Dear Editor,
As I travel the length and breadth of the Essequibo Coast, I have seen a number of pharmacies which have sprung up. I am wondering if all of these drug stores have licences and professional pharmacists to dispense drugs. I have heard stories from people saying they have been sold the wrong medicines by drugstores.
Pharmacy is the science and technique of preparing and dispensing prescription drugs; no unqualified person should be allowed by the Ministry of Health to open a pharmacy without being qualified and certified by the relevant authority. The most important thing to remember when the authority suspects a drugstore or pharmacy is illegal is to do something about it. There should be crackdown on these illegal pharmacies, and officers from the Ministry of Health should conduct inspections of pharmacies across the region and seize expired drugs.
There must be a legal provision for the revocation of licences for repeat offenders in terms of selling expired drugs, which can be damaging to health. It is relatively well accepted in the health care system that medication errors involving expired and wrong prescription drugs happen more often than they should, but the incidence rate could be reduced if inspections of pharmacies were done regularly by the competent authorities.
No person who is not trained or qualified should be allowed to dispense prescription drugs or medication to patients.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
