Don: Time to implement dispensing by registered pharmacists

A university don believes that it is time for Malaysia to implement the dispensing of medicines by registered pharmacists. This is in line with the nation’s aspirations to become a developed nation by 2020.

According to Professor Dr Ahmad Mahmud, who is the dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at Lincoln University College, there are currently over 14,000 registered pharmacists in the country and based on the statistics published by the Malaysia Pharmacy Board in November 2015, there is one pharmacist to every 2,344 citizens.

To ensure that the pharmacists are highly competent in their jobs, the Pharmacy Board requires Pharmacy undergraduates to sit for the Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination during their Semester 5 onwards.

“This is a requirement before they are allowed to apply to become a Provisionally Registered Pharmacist (PRP) and undergo a 12-month housemanship in the government or private facilities after which they can then apply to the Board to become Fully Registered Pharmacists (FRP),” Professor Ahmad explained. “Thereafter, they will be spending another year under the government compulsory service scheme.”

Professor Ahmad believes it is time for the country to revisit the proposal of independent dispensing of medicines by pharmacists.

“Pharmacists have a central role in the health care of patients in providing evidence-based pharmaceutical care,” he said. “With their unique understanding of all aspects of medicines they are the universally acknowledged experts in all aspects of drugs from discovery, through manufacture, to formulation and use in patients.”

Therefore, he argues for independence of the pharmacists. “At least, the patient should be given the option of choosing to purchase the medicine from a pharmacist based on the doctor’s prescription. Malaysia is supposed to be a developed nation in just three years’ time,” he said.

Sixty percent of the Registered Pharmacists are currently working in the public sector but Professor Ahmad, who was a former director of Pharmacy Enforcement Division of the Health Ministry, believes that the moment for the ministry implements the legal separation of functions, many of these pharmacists will turn into entrepreneurs.

“It is good for the country’s economy and this will also provide a more holistic approach to healthcare,” he said. “Doctors, especially the general practitioners, can continue to focus all their attention to diagnose the patient’s illness. They would not have time to explain to patients about the medicine that they prescribe the way a community pharmacist is trained to do.”- Mkini