This Pharmacy Month, meet one of Link’s most admired and respected pharmacy owners, Rex Dlamini, who embodies community pharmacy.
Rex opened his first pharmacy 43 years ago in Giyani and now has six pharmacies between Giyani, Elim Village, Thoyoyandou, and Sandton.
Rex, it’s been a long time. Can you remember the first product that you sold?
No, I can’t recall my first product sold but I remember the regular products, and particularly the prices back in the day. Purity Junior, R 0.89, 100 ml Furoxone, R1.66, and 200 ml Furoxone, R2.00.
What is it about Link that appeals to you and your customers?
The brand is trusted and has been associated with ‘good health’ for over three decades. Our customers associate the brand with professionalism and value.
Your thoughts on pharmacies offering primary care?
Primary care through pharmacy clinic services is a valued service in a community, and I see more pharmacies equipping and resourcing themselves to fulfil this essential role.
Our pharmacies offer primary care, vaccinations, family planning, first aid, and antenatal care among others. We also have a nursing team.
An obvious area of primary care is screening for preventable diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes. High blood pressure is often called the ‘silent killer’ because symptoms are not easily detected. Left untreated, it can have a severe impact on one’s health. Yet, screenings for either disease only take a few minutes.
We need to make our communities more aware of primary care clinic services. If more people knew about the risks associated with diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure, I’m sure that they would pop into their pharmacy for a quick screening.
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