Stewardship for medicines that are prone to abuse or misuse

Session Overview

As healthcare needs evolve, pharmacists are increasingly confronted with complex therapeutic areas where balancing patient access, clinical benefit and responsible medicine use is critical. Medicines used in pain management, weight management and cannabis-based therapies offer significant therapeutic value but also pose challenges related to misuse, abuse, inappropriate prescribing, patient expectations and long-term outcomes.

This session brings together experts to explore current developments, emerging trends and practical considerations in medicines stewardship. Through focused discussions on cannabis, codeine, pain management and weight-management therapies, the session will examine how pharmacists can support the safe, evidence-based and patient-centred use of these therapies to improve health outcomes.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Discuss current developments and challenges in cannabis, codeine, pain management and weight-management therapies.
• Define the pharmacist’s responsibility for encouraging the safe, evidence-based, and responsible use of these medicines and therapies.
• Explore practical approaches to balancing patient access, therapeutic benefit and stewardship of medicines.

Key Takeaways for Delegates

• Pharmacists play a critical role in ensuring the safe and appropriate use of medicines that have the potential for misuse.
• Patient-centred counselling and education remain fundamental to the stewardship of medicines.
• Evidence-based decision-making supports optimal therapeutic outcomes while minimising harm.
• Effective stewardship requires collaboration among pharmacists, prescribers, regulators and patients.
• Emerging therapies offer pharmacists new opportunities to improve patient care and achieve better health outcomes.

“As medicines and therapies continue to evolve, so too must our commitment to responsible stewardship. By combining scientific evidence, professional judgement and patient-centred care, pharmacists can help ensure that medicines are used safely, appropriately and effectively to improve the health and wellbeing of all South Africans.”