Pharmacist may win!

Gembiranya!Hehehe.. Sama-sama kita doakannya.
Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society president dah tukar eh?Sekarang - Datuk Nancy Ho
"Know Your Pharmacist" campaign?? :)

Title : Pharmacists may win 20-year battle
Date : 25 August 2008
From : The New Straits Times

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KUALA LUMPUR: Pharmacists may soon win their 20-year battle with doctors over who should dispense medication with 600 pharmacists entering the market annually from next year.
Their unprecedented numbers will be the answer to doubts among doctors on whether the nation would ever have enough pharmacists to make them the sole dispensers of medication.
At present, both pharmacists and doctors dispense medication to patients.

Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society president Datuk Nancy Ho said the pharmacists entering the market next year were the first batch finishing the four-year compulsory service with the government.

She said they would help meet the shortage of pharmacists which had affected plans to get pharmacists take over the task of dispensing medicines from doctors.
The MPS has argued that pharmacists were better trained to dispense medication because of their specialised knowledge of medical products and their chemical interaction. But the Malaysian Medical Association has held that the 6,000 pharmacists nationwide were insufficient to meet the needs of patients as not all pharmacies had a pharmacist throughout the day.

It is understood that the starting of 24-hour pharmacies is another option the MPS is considering if the Health Ministry decides to award sole dispenser right to pharmacists.

Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai has been in dialogue with both parties but has yet to make a decision.

Ho said the society was also carrying out a campaign to enable better professional relationships with customers.

She said the year-long "Know Your Pharmacist" campaign launched last week would see pharmacists role-playing to improve services.

Pharmacists will be rated in a Gallup poll on trustworthy professions that MPS hopes to start with a rating agency for the public, Ho said.

source - MPS