JEDDAH, 21 November 2004 — The Ministry of Health is considering allowing Saudi women pharmacists to open private pharmacies in specified locations.
“A committee has been formed to study the issue and a decision will be made in a few months,” said Dr. Abdul Aziz Niaz, director of the medical and pharmacy licenses department in the Ministry of Health.
“This is being proposed because of the number of Saudi women pharmacists who are graduating. This would be one of the employment options made available to them,” said Dr. Niaz.
The ministry’s approval of the proposal was reported over a month ago, but Dr. Niaz stated only that the ministry does not object to issuing a license to Saudi women pharmacists if they fulfill all the required conditions and regulations including that the pharmacy’s location be in a place where women work and are normally present.
“There are other considerations regarding the location such as the pharmacy’s being close to her residence and within certain areas,” said Dr. Niaz to Arab News.
The other regulations that apply to all pharmacies will also apply — such as that the owner and manager of the pharmacy be Saudis or, in this case, Saudi women. Asked if the pharmacies would serve only women with men not being allowed to enter, Dr. Niaz said that this would be one of the many points studied by the committee.
Quality control is essential for the work of pharmacists because their responsibility is big. There are instances where problems associated with patients were detected and prevented by pharmacists.
According to statistics, there are some 5,000 private pharmacies in Saudi Arabia and more than 10,000 Saudi male and female pharmacists. Most of the female pharmacists work in private and public hospitals. Others work in laboratories, research centers and pharmaceutical companies. Saudization in the pharmacy industry has reached 52 percent, which is the highest in the medical sector.
The Saudi Pharmacy Society, which was established in 1998, has recently formed a permanent women’s committee consisting of six pharmacists with a general election to be held soon to choose new members.
Dr. Amal Fatani, vice dean of the Pharmacy College at King Saud University in Riyadh and a member of the committee, said that the goal of the committee was to raise awareness of the importance of pharmacists in Saudi Arabia and to establish communication channels between pharmacists.
“We will also seek to encourage female pharmacists to develop their knowledge and skills through lectures and seminars as well as communicate with research centers in hospitals,” she said.
Fatani encourages women to go into pharmacology as there are many job opportunities especially if they are allowed to open private pharmacies.
“There are now six pharmacy colleges in Saudi Arabia and female graduates have increased from eight in 1988 to between 80 and 110 every year for the past few years, sometimes exceeding the number of male graduates, especially in specialties such as clinical pharmacology,” she pointed out.
