Let them dispense their role

THE health care industry is supported by an array of disciplines each with its own training curriculum, standards and job descriptions. Be it nursing, physiotherapy, dietetics, pharmacy or medicine, each discipline supports the other and it is their seamless integration that leads to optimal health care support for consumers and patients.

However, the universal norm that doctors diagnose and prescribe while pharmacists audit and dispense is amiss in Malaysia, and the notion to accord pharmacists their rightful duty to dispense medicines has always been met by contentious objections from the doctors. But what is most bizarre and beyond comprehension is the Health Ministry’s stand on the issue; it would not support dispensing separation. On what basis is the Health Ministry denying a profession of its fundamental role?