JEDDAH, 17 September 2006 — Due to the shortage of pharmacists in some remote areas, the Ministry of Health issued a circular recently to all regional health directors permitting nurses to dispense medications.
While the directive is temporary until a pharmacist or assistant pharmacist is made available in the health centers where there is neither, some feared that this will harm patients and it is against the regulations.
However, ministry officials played down the shortage of pharmacists and the consequences of the circular, saying that the nurse would only be handing the patients medication prescribed by the doctor and it is only applied in a few medical centers where there is no pharmacist.
The circular issued in March by Dr. Mansour Al-Hawasi, deputy minister for executive affairs at the ministry, states that the health director of the Eastern Province requested permission for nurses to dispense prescription drugs in the health facilities that lack a pharmacist or assistant pharmacist and that permission was granted.
However, Abdulrahman Al-Sultan, a pharmaceutical researcher and pharmacy administrator, said that this is in violation of health regulations in all countries, including Saudi Arabia. The laws state that only licensed pharmacists are allowed to dispense prescription medicines and that health practitioners should not work beyond their field of specialization, according to Asharq Al-Awsat. Another pharmaceutical specialist warned of the mistakes that could happen in dispensing medications by nurses.
A health official in Makkah told Arab News that the problem has risen two years ago with the increase in the number of health centers in the Kingdom with not enough pharmacists to cover them. “Some nurses refused to dispense medicines saying that it is not part of their job and they were worried about getting into trouble. This circular was to allow them to dispense medications prescribed by doctors when there is no pharmacist,” he said. “The nurses are familiar with the medications because they are the ones who administer them so they are safe.”
The spokesman for the ministry, Dr. Khaled Mirghalani, said the reports on the shortage of pharmacists and of concerns for patients’ health are exaggerated.
“The only person allowed to dispense medications is a pharmacist, but in a few villages health centers sometimes the pharmacist is absent or on vacation so the nurse is allowed to give the patient his medication which the doctor prescribes,” Mirghalani told Arab News. “This is done in coordination with the Council of Health Services.”
He assured that the nurse would never be allowed to prescribe the medication. He also said that almost all the health facilities in the Kingdom have pharmacists but some health centers in rural areas might have a shortage but it was not a big problem.
However, a recent study found that there is a serious shortage of pharmacists, especially qualified Saudis. According to the study, there are more than 2,000 jobs available for Saudi pharmacists with the number expected to rise soon to 5,000. Saudis are only about one percent of the total number of pharmacists working in the Kingdom presently.
