Interview with 2019 Professional Innovation Grant Winner, Shepard Mhlaba
By Saurabh Mamtani
We live in a perpetual world, which is evolving every second in terms of science and technology. In this epoch of technological advancements, evolution can be directly linked to innovation and youth. Hence, for our young minds to be more and more innovative, liberty to experiment fearlessly without any financial constraint is a predominant factor. The FIP YPG Professional Innovation Grant proffers that liberty to a young pharmacist/pharmaceutical scientist every year to assist him or her with the innovative project that would directly or indirectly benefit the health of communities and demonstrate the added value of pharmacy on health.
In 2019, the Professional Innovation Grant was awarded to Mr. Shepard Mhlaba, an extremely innovative young pharmacist from Zimbabwe. He is a public health enthusiast and a pro-advocate for Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Given his allegiance and enthusiasm towards revolutionising the pharmacy workforce, Shepard is diligently serving as the current Global Lead for International Pharmaceutical Federation Pharmaceutical Workforce Development Hub (FIP PWDH). Being an efficient multi-tasker and a phenomenal leader, he also serves as the Chairperson of Zimbabwe Young Pharmacists Group (ZIMYPG).
In an interview with a member of the publications team, Shepard expresses his emotions, experiences, ideas, and views on how he developed an out of the box solution to the most frustrating problem of community pharmacy practice. Moreover, he graciously illustrated his experience of attending the 2019 FIP World Congress in Abu Dhabi and how winning the Professional Innovation Grant had catalysed the progress of his innovative idea.
Talking about how he developed his interest in pharmacy, Shepard emotively said, “Well, I developed interest in pharmacy early in my life when I lost my Dad at the age of 15. Since then, I aspired to become a pharmacist and be well equipped to help the people I love, with medicines. Unlike most young people, I always wanted to challenge the status quo and have a habit of thinking unconventionally to solve problems. One of the many ideas I enacted includes the proposal of the first white coat ceremony in Zimbabwe which is now part of the school of pharmacy calendar and the Zimbabwe Young Pharmacists Group charter.”
Our innovative mind triggers when we find fault in default, this is exactly what happened with Shepard. Sharing with us his story on finding fault in default, he explains, “As a community pharmacist, I experienced the frustration of ordering medicines via phone, which used to create a communication gap between me and the wholesalers. They used to often miss out on minor details which, in turn, resulted in procurement of about to expire or incorrect medicines. Contemplating a bit more about the problem, I eventually realized that the lack of a proper supply chain management system in most community pharmacy practice has consequently resulted in a lot of expired medicines and loss of revenue. Loss was not only limited to economic aspects, it also led to a significant increase in the occurrence of medication errors, jeopardizing the lives of patients. This triggered my mind to think for an out of the box solution to this immensely problematic situation. Referring to our statement, Shepard adds, “As you righteously said, this is the era of technological advancements, with such a vast range of digital resources available for our disposal. I feel we can use these resources and technology to improve performance, efficiency, and communication in our profession. Supply chain management is one area that we can manipulate with digital technology to improve access to medicines, business performance, and medicine distribution in community pharmacy practice — ultimately benefiting the livelihood of the underprivileged, poverty stricken communities who desperately need medicines to better their quality of life and disease prognosis.”
Elaborating on his idea of digital supply chain management platform, he says, “The platform would enable pharmacists to plan, monitor, and manage their logistics and inventory on any internet enabled devices (e.g., smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop) from anywhere for their convenience. It will notify the pharmacists when the medications are about to expire and will also provide them with the list of expired medications in the inventory. The digital platform will use data analytics to analyze the financials and expenses that will assist the pharmacist in making logistics and financial decisions. Ultimately, the system will act as a smart logistics assistant for pharmacists.” Speaking on limitations of the digital supply chain management, he added, “Of course, there are challenges involved. The major barrier we had was communication with the developers, meeting up with them on busy schedules, and on top of all, the power cuts. Thankfully, the power supply in Zimbabwe has significantly improved and can now allow the developer to have enough time to finish the project or attend to any technical issues on time. To further improve the communication, we now conduct both physical and conference call meetings which have been scheduled to fit our individual timetables.”
Sharing his experience of the 2019 FIP World Congress, he said excitedly, “Abu Dhabi was my first FIP World Congress, and it was AMAZING. Attending the World Congress introduced me to an array of endless possibilities, meeting a diverse group of people with different stories to tell and ideas to share. I had an opportunity to chat and share my idea with fellow young pharmacists at the Congress. I also got a lot of positive feedback as it is a problem spanning across the continent of Africa. Also, I would like to extend my gratitude to FIP YPG for rewarding me with the grant. It has provided me with financial assistance which is fundamental for the implementation of the project. Furthermore, the idea that my project was chosen as the winner boosted my confidence, motivation, and thought process in implementing the project.”
As the interview came to a close, Shepard explained in simple terms, “To succeed you need to identify a problem and find a solution to it. Once you do that, use available resources and think outside the box to find an innovative solution that is feasible, easy to understand, and pragmatic.” He believes, “No idea is a small idea. Whatever you think and put your mind to that can impact the livelihood of a community, patients, or our profession. You need to let it out there, and you will be amazed by how ideas can change the world.”
