Association of Compounding Pharmacists of South Africa

The ACPSA was formed in 2013 to promote, preserve and advocate for the historical art of compounding, consistent with professional standards of practice.

Objectives

To promote standards of good practice
To facilitate ongoing training and education for members.
To promote the practice of Compounding within the healthcare system.
To be a point of reference and liaison between stakeholders and other interest groups.
To act as an advocate on compounding matters.
To promote and facilitate communications with the press, public and other interest groups on matters concerning pharmacy compounding.

What Is Compounding?

Compounding is a time-honoured way to serve patients with custom care when it comes to their medications. Traditional pharmacy compounding involves the act of combining, mixing or altering ingredients to prepare customized medication for an individual patient upon receipt of a valid prescription from a doctor. This professional practice is founded upon a trusted physician/pharmacist/patient relationship.

Compounding dates back to early 19th century when compounding involved not only the preparation of medications, but also the extraction of ingredients from crude, natural materials. It is believed that approximately 80% of the prescriptions were compounded until 1950s when drug manufacturing, the mass production of drug products, began to dominate the supply of the mainstream market.

Compounding allows physicians or other healthcare professionals to order custom medications for their patients.
The compounding pharmacist combines the necessary ingredients into the form prescribed by the doctor.

Why Use Compounding?

Compounding offers the physician flexibility in the optimum approach to deal help their patient.

The patient might be allergic to some preservatives or dyes used in brand name medications or the physician might require the patient to have a different strength than what is typically available from the manufacturer. The physician might want the medicine to be in a form or flavour that is easier for the patient to take.

Medications can be made into a lollipop, gel, patch, lozenge or some other form that is easier for the patient use. Some patients have side effects that can be minimized or avoided if the medication is compounded in a different form than is normally available. For patients with problems swallowing a pill, a liquid form can sometimes be created.

Doctors

Do you have patients who have difficulty taking the medication you prescribe?

Patient non-compliance is a familiar challenge, and can result in the treatment being less effective than it should be.

Common reasons for patient non-compliance may include:

Stomach upset when taking oral medication
Reluctance to take the medication due to its taste
Issues with the route of administration, such as difficulty swallowing pills
Requiring a different dose of medication than that which is available from a manufacturer
Difficulty keeping track of multiple medications
Patients who don't want to take medication at all, especially children or pets

A compounding pharmacist may be able to provide solutions for challenges such as these. Working closely with the patient and the prescriber, compounding gives the doctor the means to customize medication to meet the individual needs of each patient.