Pharmacists read malice in proposed Bill to regulate their practice
Pharmacy and Poisons Board officials load cartons of counterfeit drugs seized during a crackdown in Nyanza into a vehicle in Kisumu on February 22, 2019.
The delay in the full implementation of the ambitious Universal Health Coverage (UHC) may be the reason behind the push for the proposed Pharmacy and Poison (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
Pharmacists say the government's fading hope of providing quality and affordable healthcare for all its citizens as enshrined in the Constitution is one of the major reasons for the government-sponsored Bill.
The controversial Bill that underwent the first reading on June 9 and the second reading this month, aims at removing barriers to access cheap pharmaceutical products and drugs and would allow other healthcare cadres and businessmen to import the drugs and products.
However, pharmacists argue this will pave the way for the importation of substandard drugs and products that could be risky to millions of Kenyans as the Pharmacy and Poison Board’s powers will be curtailed by the new Act.
"The Kenya government commitment to providing health care for all of its citizens is moving in the wrong direction by a misguided Act like this one being sponsored by the Parliament Health Committee," said Dr Achoka, a pharmacist in Nakuru Town and a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya (PSK).
Inhibitive cost
A task force by the United States Agency for International Development (USaid) recently revealed that 60 per cent of the cost of providing Universal Health Coverage in Kenya was going towards buying drugs and goods.
"This is the probable bottleneck that is making health care expensive and that is why the government is unable to achieve it and has decided to sponsor a Bill in an attempt to lower inhibitive cost that has impeded the UHC," argued Dr Achoka.
Dr Achoka said the amendments which will give birth to Kenya Food Drug Authority (KFDA) if passed, would be tantamount to throwing the birth water and the baby because UHC is inhibitive not because of costly drugs and products but because of lack of regulation of the industry.
"Pharmacists must have an independent regulatory council that has members with the same knowledge and skills that they regulate," says PSK in a statement.
"A pharmacy practice council shall ensure the highest quality of pharmacist's care and appropriate use of medicines and health products through education, communication, licensing, legislation, regulation and enforcement for the safety and interest of the public," added PSK.
"The government has realised that there is a whole process of certifying medication and pharmaceutical goods and for one to import a product to treat people for a certain disease you must convince the Pharmacy and Poison Board what the product does to the body and the probable side effects and therefore you need to be a pharmacist," said Dr Achoka.
He said the Act as proposed wants to remove that aspect of certification and pharmacists will no longer be required to certify the imported products and this will pave the way for the importation of cheap pharmaceutical products.
Pharmaceutical products
Dr Achoka said the lower cadre of healthcare personnel like clinical officers and nurses will have a leeway to import pharmaceutical products in a bid to lower their cost yet they are not trained and qualified pharmacists.
"This new Act is dangerous and will put the lives of millions of Kenyans at risk as critical drugs and equipment will be imported in mass like electronic products by people who are not pharmacists," said Dr Achoka.
At the same time, Dr Achoka said that the new Act will mutilate the pharmacy profession as it will disregard the regulator the Pharmacy and Poison Board which will be composed of private sector players who are not pharmacists.
"All other key professions like medicine, law, engineering among others have regulators and it is ridiculous that this new Act wants to do away with our Pharmacists and Poison Board which regulates pharmacists and want to put our secretariat under the Medical Practitioners and Dentist Council (MPDC) as a subordinate entity. This is a misguided notion," said Dr Achoka.
The pharmacist said the best solution would be to separate the practice and the industry saying " we need to have clear and defined levels of practices where you could be a consultant pharmacist, pharmaceutical technologist or a pharmaceutical technician with specific roles and duties well demarcated."
This new Act argued Dr Achoka is trying to remove these levels of practices where it means there is no need for a pharmacist to advance his level of education as what he or she can do a junior pharmacist can also do as there would be no formal regulation in the industry.
Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya (PSK) wants the government to enact a law where Pharmacists will have a council like the Nursing Council to regulate the industry and this will also allow the control of commodities being imported and made in Kenya.
