Pharmacy Education and Practice in Pakistan: Are They Affecting our Healthcare System

You can visit www.pharmacists.pk or www.pharmacist.pkto read about this article and others about pharmacy profession in Pakistan.

Dear Zaheer ud Din Baber

Nice artile. I am Muhammad Nadeem, also from BZU (1996-1998) Chemistry Department. I have met you in BZU with ZAHID MASOOS too many times. Now days i am in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, MALAYSIA. My e-mail address is as nadeem_waterchemist@yahoo.com. 016-9022682 is my hand phone no.

Be in contact,

With regards

Dear Mhgold

You can do so with a proper credit to Chowk.

Zaheer

i just simply want to ask that can I post your this article with your name- and the source i have taken from (chowk.com), and also want to post on the newly created website cum blog of Department of Pharmacy University of Sindh Jamshoro?

is not it true that antibiotics and most other drugs are imported into pakistan and only packaged here?
how many drugs are manufactured in pakistan?

Dear BeeJay

I do agree with the points like “ medical stores manned by non-qualified persons and availability of the medicines without prescriptions and counterfeit medicines”. However, all are suggestive of poor pharmacy regulation in the country, which in turn shows that pharmacy regulators (pharmacy regulators are mostly pharmacists all over the world) are not capable enough to devise plans for effective medicine use and regulation. Though political will of the state is also required for a action but in the absence of proper pharmacy education, pharmacy organizations and pharmacists cant consolidates their roles, they cant mobilize civil society , they cant create awareness about drug use and in turn they failed to convince legislative authorities for a proper enforcement mechanism.

Perhaps education determine the standards of practice in a country, you can’t name any country in the world with good pharmacy education and bad pharmacy practice.
Zaheer

Dear BeeJay

I do agree with the points like “ medical stores manned by non-qualified persons and availability of the medicines without prescriptions and counterfeit medicines”. However, all are suggestive of poor pharmacy regulation in the country, which in turn shows that pharmacy regulators (pharmacy regulators are mostly pharmacists all over the world) are not capable enough to devise plans for effective medicine use and regulation. Though political will of the state is also required for a action but in the absence of proper pharmacy education, pharmacy organizations and pharmacists cant consolidates their roles, they cant mobilize civil society , they cant create awareness about drug use and in turn they failed to convince legislative authorities for a proper enforcement mechanism.

Perhaps education determine the standards of practice in a country, you can’t name any country in the world with good pharmacy education and bad pharmacy practice.
Zaheer

=== Interact Removed ===

The author may have legitimate concerns regarding whether the changes in pharmacy curriculum made sense or not. But unfortunately, the larger problem is not whether the curriculum meets its mark – it is how many pharmacies have well-trained pharmacists in the first place? In making a transition from India (or perhaps from Pakistan) to U.S., two of the prominent differences one notices is (1) how much more expensive the medicines are, and (2) how well-controlled the distribution system is. For example, in my hometown in Bihar, you could simply walk into any drug-store and if you know which medicine you needed, just buy it. A prescription is helpful but never required. Most of those “pharmacists” would have virtually zero training with drugs – there is considered little need for such training, since this job is considered not much different from selling any other type of wares. I suspect the situation may not be much different in many parts of Pakistan (except perhaps in large cities). The large-scale infusion of counterfeit medication is another serious problem. Those are the REAL problems – tinkering with the curriculum alone can not solve them.

An excellent piece Mr. Babar. Thank you for providing an in-depth analysis of pharmacy education in Pakistan and in bringing the shortcomings of the HEC approach to light. I hope the HEC gods care enough to read this and bring about effective change.