Formation of The East Cape and Border Branch of SAAHIP

 This branch is now known as the Eastern Cape Branch.

One of the founding members of this branch, Matt Carter, wrote a contribution to FORUM, the official journal of the South African Association of Hospital and Institutional Pharmacists (SAAHIP) describing the steps taken to establish the branch, and it was published in the June 1982 issue of FORUM (the 22nd issue). I have retyped the article hereunder.

Formation of a new East Cape and Border Branch of SAAHIP

A Steering Committee was formed on 24^th September, 1981, to initiate and pursue the formation of an East Cape and Border branch of the South African Association of Hospital and Institutional Pharmacists. This committee, under the chairmanship of Mr. Jack Meyer Kaplan, met at regular intervals to report on progress regarding the establishment of a Register of Members, Constitutional and procedural issues, and the convening of the inaugural meeting.

Having decided  that our main objective would be to “promote, encourage and foster co-operation between Doctor, Nurse, and Pharmacist, for the ultimate benefit of the patient", our guests on this occasion were influential doctors of the East Cape and Border Region, Dr. P T  Vurgarellis, Regional Medical Superintendent, East Cape and Border Region, Dr. J D Krynauw, Regional Director, State Health, Welfare and Pensions, Dr. J Wessels, Coordinator, East Cape and Border Day Hospitals Organisation, and the Medical Superintendents from the major hospitals, Drs Cillier, Clarke, Rossouw, and Hanraty.

 The Inaugural Meeting was held on 23rd January, 1982, at the Marine Hotel in Port Elizabeth, and was generally considered to be a great success.

The now approved Steering Committee continued to meet and concluded arrangements for an Annual General Meeting to be held for the constitutional election of Officers and Committee Members at the Old Grey Club, Kemsley Park, Port Elizabeth, on Monday 19^th April, 1982 at 7.30pm

The Constitution and Bye-laws of the branch were accepted and the following Officers and Committee Members were elected:      

Chairman:                 Mr. J M Kaplan, Senior Pharmacist, Provincial Hospital, Uitenhage

Vice-Chairman:        Mr.   R.B. Garner, Principal Pharmacist, Livingstone Hospital 
                                    Port Elizabeth

 

Secretary:                  Mr. M R Carter, Principal Pharmacist, Dora Nginza Hospital, 
                                    Algoa Park
 
Treasurer                   Mr. V T Mangan, Senior Pharmacist, Provincial Hospital,
                                    Port Elizabeth

Minute Secretary:     Mr. N Taylor-Smith, Senior Pharmacist, Dora Nginza Hospital, 
                                    Algoa Park
 

Committee Members: Prof. T J McCarthy, Messrs. R Cruise, D Tobias, J Zeelie,
                                    Miss P Gouws, Miss Z Calloway,  Miss C Roberts

 

 Our main problem remains the establishment of a Register of Members. A print out of West Cape members who will now become members of the new East Cape Branch has been received and to this we have added the names of known members not included on this list (myself included) many of whom have been recently recruited and a few PSSA members now employed in Hospital or Institutional pharmacy who are eligible for membership.  A print out of PSSA members for East Cape and. Border would be invaluable in our recruitment drive.

A meeting concerned with "Prescribing for the Aged '' is in the planning stages and we are fortunate to have Mr. Ian Wiseman to enlighten us in this sphere. It is probable that we will invite the Nursing Division to share this meeting with us.

Throughout  this whole  exercise  of  getting  the  East  Cape  and Border  Branch off the  ground  I  am  reminded of the  saying: "Persistence is  the keynote to success, but Patience is needed for the accomplishment of all  things”.

Meyer Kaplan provides the Persistence but my patience becomes sorely tried.

 ! don't know whether you are familiar with the Prayer of Maimonides, but I reread it on occasions:

 
                        May ·the love for my art actuate me at all times;

                        May neither avarice, nor miserliness nor the thirst for glory,

                        Nor for a great reputation engage my mind;

                        For the enemies of truth and philanthropy could easily

                        Deceive me and make me forgetful of my lofty aim of

                        Doing good to thy children
 

 I was impressed and greatly encouraged by the conduct and tone of the PSSA Conference in which all branches of the profession, at long last, seem to be pulling together in the right direction, the outcome of which can only be professionalism, and the benefits that it confers.

 

Matt Carter

 

My Pharmacy History Blog

I was browsing through some old copies of Forum that I had scanned during my last visit to South Africa, looking for something in particular. I came across this report in the June 1982 issue of FORUM, and I thought members of FORUM and the PSSA would find it interesting. Posting it on my blog seemed to be the easiest and quickest way  for it to reach those pharmacists who would be interested. I already have a pharmacy blog and a travel blog, so I set about creating a Pharmacy History Blog.  I think it is necessary that members of a profession keep in touch with the work that was done by those who preceded them, and that those crusaders not be forgotten. Women, for example, should also not forget that having the vote was not achieved without a difficult battle being fought and eventually won as recently as just over one hundred years ago.

For the benefit of younger readers I need to point out that pre 1994, each of the four provinces had their own provincial health departments and State hospitals were also to be found within the provinces. Promotion posts were limited and promotion was based on merit assessments. Many times a promotion was possible only by applying for a post in a rural hospital.

The first issues of FORUM were typed and reproduced, and stapled together, before finally being placed into envelopes for posting to members.  I own a copy of almost every issue from the first one in 1976 up to when FORUM was incorporated into the South African Pharmaceutical Journal. While I was in South Africa at the beginning of this year, my scanner worked overtime while I scanned pages I thought would be useful for my purpose. These are in pdf format, and I have subscribed to the feature that allows me to convert these files into a word document. Unfortunately the original pages are not always clearly printed so the converted files show gibberish in places. The result is that many of the paragraphs require almost complete retyping. But I am learning as I go along.