Dispensing Right According To Zones

Today, I had a discussion with Professor Saringat, a lecturer in Universiti Sains Malaysia on " Regulatory Aspects of Pharmacy Practice in Developing Countries : Issue and Challenges ". He touched a issue which is still hot today although it got into fire many moons ago, the DISPENSING RIGHT OF PHARMACIST. Following is his opinion on the situation.

There is a big hype in the news that pharmacist are getting their dispensing rights after 20 years of battle, but all these are just lies. Nothing is happening in the policy making level. Nothing is being spoken in parliament about dispensing right. Why is it so? This is because many of the member of parliaments are doctors. They are totally against the idea and that is hampering the legislative process. Of course they give reasons; the practice would be inconvenient to the patients. The patients would need to go to 2 places to get medicine, costing more for medicine and consultation and many more other reasons. But actually, without the dispensing separation the patients' dilemma are only getting worse.

However, are the pharmacist community in Malaysia totally ready to have their dispensing right? There are some problems within our community hampering the effort. The greatest setback is the attitude of the pharmacist. There are some pharmacists selling medicine unethically and against the law, and this has been happening rampantly. Many of them are thinking only about making profit and forgetting about their responsibility to provide quality services. Some are selling Group C drug without prescription and among the most popular cases are selling of cough medicine to drug addicts. There are some cases around here, where the pharmacy is closed after investigation by the enforcement. These all are happening because retail pharmacists are in dilemma! They just can't sustain the low profit obtained from the legal way. This is the reason why pharmacists should get their dispensing right.

The government is saying that there is no enough pharmacists in Malaysia, so we can't separate the dispensing. But there is overcrowd of pharmacist in Pulau Pinang and Kuala Lumpur. The ratio of pharmacist to people is very low in Pulau Pinang, far lower than the minimum ratio needed. With that, dispensing right according to the zones should be implemented. Pharmacists in zones like Pulau Pinang and Kuala Lumpur should be allowed to practice their dispensing right, right away. We should not wait until the whole Malaysia reach the required ratio.

Those who have read this article, please leave your kindest and critical comment. It's all for our profession. Remember, " Profession Is Our Passion".