We rightly thank and celebrate pharmacists every October during American Pharmacists Month. They are among the most trusted healthcare professionals and among the most trusted professionals of any type. They are the most accessible healthcare go-tos, particularly among those in the greatest need.

This year, the appreciation and honor for these heroes must intensify to match the essential service they have provided to individuals, communities and the nation during the most severe public health crisis in the past century.

If ever American Pharmacists Month were to provide an opportunity to push for pro-patient and pro-pharmacy policies it is this year. The reality is this.

Pharmacists should be thanked and the public should be served by empowering pharmacists fully in public policy to:

• Meet Americans’ needs during the pandemic
• Operate with fewer barriers and with greater flexibility not only during the pandemic but into the future
• Provide an enhanced array of healthcare services that reflects their extensive education,
• Earn fair reimbursement for their services that save and improve lives and that reduce overall healthcare costs, and
• Serve as part of the solution to other health and wellness threats that only have been worsened by the pandemic, including opioid abuse.

NACDS applauds our pharmacists. We also insist on federal and state government actions that are non-negotiable if government leaders truly wish to help pharmacists help their constituents during public health’s greatest time of need – and beyond.