Women's role in health care greatly increased during pandemic

Pharmacy is a highly feminized profession in Poland – as many as 83 percent of people with a master's degree in pharmacy are women. During the Covid-19 pandemic, their role in the health care system increased significantly and pharmacists' powers were expanded. This has had an impact on their workload – a new report "Female pharmacists during the pandemic", commissioned by NutroPharma, shows that three-quarters of them experienced a significant increase in fatigue and stress levels. At the same time, new powers are given to this professional group turn out to be the biggest motivator for them to develop professionally and continue working.

"Statistics show that pharmacists can be a huge support for the health care system. Our society is aging fast – GUS predicts that by 2050 the median age will increase by 11.7 years. On the other hand, in Poland, the ratio of physicians per every 1,000 inhabitants is 2.4 and is the lowest in Europe. This shows that we have a problem with access to doctors and their excessive workload. However, this niche in access to medical care can be filled by pharmacists – with pharmaceutical prescriptions, organizing vaccinations, testing for COVID-19, etc.," Janina Bąk, a statistician and author of the Janina Daily blog, said.

According to GUS data for 2021, 26,100 Masters of Pharmacy and 32,200 pharmacy technicians worked in pharmacies in Poland. Both of these professions are heavily feminized  – 83 percent of those with a master's degree in pharmacy and 94.3 percent of pharmacy technicians are women.

In the last two pandemic years, their role has significantly increased – in the face of difficult access to physicians and medical facilities, patients more often sought the assistance of pharmacists, who have been given new, expanded powers. 

(Newseria)