Beginnings of Pharmacy in the Philippines
In the early to late 19th century, pharmacy in the Philippines began with simple compounding and dispensing, the traditional process of preparing various medications and distributing them to those in need. At that time, the role of a pharmacist involved preparing, storing, and labeling the medicine based on its intended use.
As the need for medicine—and in effect, pharmacists—continued on, the first drugstore in the Philippines was established by a Spanish physician named Don Lorenzo Negrao in 1830 in Escolta, Manila.
Several years later, pharmacy was legitimized as a field requiring further education, bringing forth the founding and inauguration of the first school for pharmacy in the Philippines in 1871, known as the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Faculty of Pharmacy.
During the Spanish rule, UST’s pharmacy curriculum took six years to complete. It was later reduced to four years during the American occupation. The school paved the way for the country’s first licensed pharmacist, Leon Ma. Guerrero, who is often considered as the Father of Philippine Pharmacy.
The Philippines continued to evolve and modernize the health sector in the decades that followed. Many pioneers came about, changing and revolutionizing the industry even during the post-war era.
In 1945, partners Jose Y. Campos and Mariano K. Tan put up United Drug Co. Inc., a wholesale and retail drugstore in Binondo, Manila. Eight years after its founding, the drugstore would later expand to manufacturing and grow to become United Laboratories, Inc.—what we know as Unilab today.
Pharmacists in the New Age
Pharmacy has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the country. These days, pharmacists are widely recognized as health experts who are involved in training, and providing medical services such as medical counseling, health screening and surveillance, quality control, and even patient-oriented roles. Together with the rest of the healthcare professionals that form the health sector, the pharmacists of today constitute an essential role in establishing an effective and reliable health system.
Sources:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/29792150
https://cp.upm.edu.ph/history/pharmacy-practice/
https://www.ipsf.org/article/role-pharmacists-health-systems
