Doctors to be Disallowed from Dispensing Medicines

NST
2008/03/28

KUALA LUMPUR: Soon, doctors will not be allowed to dispense medicines. Doctors will only be allowed to prescribe medications but patients will have to get the medicines from pharmacies.
Currently, doctors diagnose the disease, prescribe the medicines and their own clinics dispense them.

For almost 20 years, pharmacists have been fighting for the "return" of their right to dispense medications but had been unsuccessful for various reasons.A pilot project on the separation of functions between doctors' clinics and pharmacies will be launched by the Ministry of Health.It is scheduled to be launched at selected major towns with the ministry closely monitoring the strength and weaknesses of the system before implementing it nationwide.


Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said the ministry was not able to implement this system earlier due to logistics problems, especially the shortage of pharmacists and pharmacies in the country."We also have to take into consideration the welfare of patients. If we have the separation, then patients must have easy accessibility to pharmacies to get their prescribed medications," he told the New Straits Times.He said the ministry had conducted a detailed study, "Pharmacy and clinic Mapping" on various issues ranging from welfare of patients, facilities available and capability of pharmacies to meet the demand.



"We found that the logistics problem is still an issue and needs to be resolved as we do not want patients to be running around looking for pharmacies with the doctors' prescriptions," said Dr Ismail.Furthermore, he said, the pharmacies should be able to provide quality care.He said the ministry had been doing the study with various stakeholders, focusing on the spread of community pharmacies or pharmacy outlets in major towns, rural and remote areas.Some 5,000 registered pharmacists are actively practising in some 1,600 pharmacies nationwide.In 2004, there were only 3,927 registered pharmacists with about 1,540 retail pharmacies or one for every 16,445 persons.



Dr Ismail said the pilot project would be implemented in major towns based on the study where there were pharmacies near clinics."If the pilot project is successful, we will have to look into the existing laws to allow for the separation," he added.India, South Korea and Taiwan have implemented the separation.



Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society president John Chang Chiew Pheng said the ministry's move to conduct a pilot project was definitely a positive development which would enhance the level of healthcare delivery.The separation, he added, would benefit patients as doctors could now focus on their clinical, diagnosing, counselling and prescription, while pharmacists could focus on educating patients on how best to optimise the usage of medicines prescribed.



Furthermore, Chang said, pharmacists could help patients choose between generic and branded drugs based on their financial situation."With commitment and determination we can overcome teething problems and patients can understand their medicines," he added.He said if the government went ahead with the separation, then more pharmacies could be set up near clinics for easy accessibility to patients.

USM guna teknologi terkini imej otak

Utusan Malaysia
21 Mac 2008 / 13 Rabiul Awal 1429


PULAU PINANG 20 Mac – Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) muncul sebagai institusi pengajian tinggi (IPT) pertama di Asia yang bakal dilengkapi teknologi terkini beresolusi tinggi yang mampu melihat imej otak manusia. Kelengkapan itu yang dikenali sebagai Ultra High Field (UHF) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) 7 Tesla (7T) dirintis oleh Siemens Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Ini bermakna, USM akan menjadi IPT awam (IPTA) sulung di rantau ini menubuhkan Pusat Penyelidikan Neurosains dilengkapi MRI 7T iaitu teknologi terbaru, mendahului MRI 3T yang diguna pakai di kebanyakan negara Asia ketika ini.

Timbalan Presiden Siemens Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Dr. Tobias Seyfarth berkata, pihaknya bekerja secara aktif bagi mewujudkan teknologi-teknologi baru yang boleh ditawarkan kepada pengguna untuk menyelesaikan pelbagai masalah berkaitan bidang saintifik dan klinikal. ‘‘Ia termasuk pengenalan kepada teknologi MRI 7T yang berupaya mengimbas imej otak manusia pada tahap yang lebih terperinci seterusnya dapat membuat pengesanan lebih awal terhadap pelbagai penyakit berkaitan dengan sistem otak manusia,” katanya di sini semalam. Beliau berkata demikian pada majlis menandatangani Memorandum Persefahaman (MoU) antara USM dengan Siemens Malaysia Sdn. Bhd yang diwakili oleh Naib Canselor USM, Prof. Datuk Dzulkifli Abdul Razak dan Ketua Sektor Penjagaan Kesihatan Siemens, Michael Schmermer. Tambah beliau, USM telah menyuarakan hasrat mendalami penggunaan teknologi UHF, MRI 7T dalam pembangunan bidang neurosains khususnya hubung kait antara otak dan minda, terutamanya memori, pembelajaran dan kecerdasan minda.

Seyfarth turut mengakui, pengimejan UHF yang dilengkapi dengan MRI 7T sebagai satu kelengkapan yang amat berharga khususnya untuk digunakan dalam bidang neurosains.
Tambahnya, dengan termeterai MoU itu, kedua-dua pihak mempunyai matlamat serupa iaitu untuk membangunkan dan mengoptimumkan teknik pengimejan T7 seterusnya memindahkannya kepada sistem klinikal. Sementara itu, Dzulkifli berkata, USM komited menjalinkan kerjasama pintar seumpama itu yang dijangka mendatangkan pelbagai manfaat kepada pembangunan bidang neurosains di negara ini. ‘‘Kita berharap lebih banyak penemuan baru dalam bidang saintifik dan klinikal dapat diperoleh dengan wujudnya pusat kerjasama seumpama ini,” ujarnya.

Tahniah Kepada Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin

Pihak Persatuan Sains Perubatan ingin merakamkan ribuan tahniah atas perlantikan Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin sebagai Menteri Pengajian Tinggi yang baru. Semoga dengan kehadiran beliau akan memberi sinar harapan yang baru kepada dunia keintelektualan di tanah air kita.

Gaji Doktor naik 2010

        Untuk maklumat kalian, gaji pegawai perubatan lepasan siswazah akan meningkat kepada RM 3028.90 pada tahun 2010 berbanding dengan sekarang (RM 1999.19). Tetapi, tempoh latihan pegawai perubatan siswazah yang berkhidmat dalam bidang klinikal akan dilanjutkan daripada setahun kepada 2 tahun mulai tahun ini.