New York State Department of Health Recognizes National Pharmacy Week
Department Celebrates Important Contributions of Pharmacies and Pharmacists
Department Grants Pharmacies More Ability to Serve Residents Through Standing Orders
ALBANY, N.Y. (October 24, 2024) – The New York State Department of Health recognizes National Pharmacy Week, observed October 20-26, by celebrating contributions pharmacies and pharmacists make in ensuring all New Yorkers have access to critical health resources.
"I grew up working in my family's small-town pharmacy in Cohoes. I understand the positive impact and trusted healing relationships pharmacies have on communities firsthand," State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said. "Pharmacies are essential in ensuring that all New Yorkers, regardless of income or location, have access to vaccinations, contraceptives and other medications that can enhance overall health."
"As we celebrate National Pharmacy Week, I am grateful to Dr. McDonald and his team at the New York State Department of Health for their invaluable support of pharmacists, who play a crucial role in serving their communities by ensuring access to essential medications and services, including immunizations, long acting injectables and self-administered hormonal contraceptives," Lincoln Pharmacy Supervising Pharmacist Zarina Jalal said.
"Pharmacists are perhaps the most accessible health care professionals," Pharmacists Society of the State of New York Executive Director Joseph J. Bova said. "Working in a variety of practice settings including hospitals and community pharmacies, they are often the first health care providers a person may see. Certainly, patients see pharmacists more often throughout the year then their doctors. As the executive director of the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York, I want to recognize pharmacists throughout our state as we celebrate National Pharmacy Week. Pharmacists are medication experts who play a critical role in healthcare delivery. Every time you visit a pharmacy for your prescription you should discuss any questions with your pharmacist before you leave. Medications can save lives, but only when used properly under the guidance of a pharmacist."
Pharmacists play an important role in enabling widespread access to health care services. Ninety percent of Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy, including traditionally underserved urban and rural communities with limited access to primary care providers.
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacies served as community-based locations where individuals could find testing for the virus. As vaccines and then boosters became more widely available, and as more populations became eligible, pharmacies and pharmacists increasingly took on the responsibility of protecting the public from various strains and waves, quickly becoming one of the primary places people turned to for their COVID-19 vaccines, boosters, and now treatment for people infected with the disease.
The Department and Governor Kathy Hochul have worked to fight health disparities by making pharmacies even more of a conduit to health equity.
In March, Governor Kathy Hochul and State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald issued a standing order authorizing pharmacists to dispense three types of hormonal contraception medication without a prescription.
