No shortage of pharmacists: Ho
Published on: Monday, March 02, 2015
Putra Jaya: Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society president Datuk Nancy Ho said that it is a fallacy to say that there are not enough pharmacists in the country."There are 13,000 pharmacists waiting in the wings and this is a waste of good knowledge and skill if not utilised," she said.She said many of these qualified pharmacists are currently unemployed as there are not enough jobs available for them.
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"To say that there are not enough pharmacists to cater to demand is unacceptable," she said, adding pharmacists are ready to serve wherever they get an opportunity to work and serve the community, irrespective whether in urban or rural areas.Saying that pharmacists are fully trained in the dispensing of medicine and also on counselling patients, Nancy said that they agree with the Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam that the separation in the prescribing and dispensing of medicine by doctors and pharmacists need to be studied in depth before it's implementation."We are very supportive of the Ministry's effort in this and we will work together," said Nancy rubbishing claims that the ministry will brush this separation scheme aside."The ministry and the minister has been giving us full support and engaging us in all their discussions," she said.
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She added the ministry has to look into the bigger picture in totality before making a positive decision on the matter with full consensus from all parties concerned.Nancy said healthcare cannot be comprised and thus this separation scheme must be implemented with great care.
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"We are confident the Minister will make the best decision taking into consideration the views of the stakeholders and that of patients," she added.She said they want to collaborate with doctors on this scheme to ensure check-and-balance and 'sometimes it's good to get a second opinion from a pharmacists or vice-versa".Nancy is also of the view that patients should be given the option to choose where they want to get their medications.She also urged doctors to label their medications clearly so that patients know what they are taking.Meanwhile, the new Pharmacy Bill is still under review discussions with various stakeholders and Attorney-General's Chambers, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.He said the issues of concern which are still being studied under the new bill include options for the dispensing of medicines by both pharmacists and medical practitioners."Discussions between the Pharmaceutical Services Division of the Ministry and the various stakeholders are ongoing," he said when asked to comment on Malaysian Medical Association's claims on Tuesday that there are no plans for the separation of roles of doctors and dispensing of medication.He said the ministry has to get the consensus from all parties concerned before deciding on its implementation."Please stop speculating as for the time being there is no changes and if we are to implement , then there will be a lot of challenges and changes," he added.On Tuesday, he said, a discussion was held with relevant divisions within the ministry, MMA and Malaysian Medical Council secretariat on the issue.He added discussions with the other doctor groups have been scheduled for March 4, consumer groups on second week of March and other ministries and government agencies on third week of March.In the fourth week of next month, Dr Subramaniam said, they will discuss with Pharmacy associations and Academia while a town hall briefing will be held in April with date yet to be fixed.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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