The fate of the new pharmacy bill: going backwards or forwards?
BACKGROUND
The proposed Pharmacy Bill of Malaysia which served to consolidate and harmonise the existing pharmacy legislation which has been used for more than 60 years. This new Pharmacy Bill contains 17 parts and a total of 170 legislative sections covering laws governing pharmacy practice, medicinal products classification, registration, sale, supply, licensing etc. Our article could serve as a case study on pharmacy jurisprudence and drug regulation as well as the governance for medicines.


CONCLUSIONS
Changes to the colonial era legislation are long overdue as the present pharmaceutical and medical controls are not integrated and various overlaps exist in terms of roles of control. However, various organisations of private general practitioners strongly opposed this Pharmacy Bill and lobbied for a revised version that greatly favours themselves. Thus, the latest revision of this Pharmacy Bill renders the power to medical doctors to not only continue selling and supplying medications but also compound medication.


CONCLUSIONS
A complete overhaul of pharmacy legislation in view of the current challenges faced in providing efficient and comprehensive health services in Malaysia is necessary. For the sake of patients' safety and good governance for medicines, the private general practitioners should empower the patients with their needs for prescription and itemised billing. The proposed Pharmacy Bill could make the whole mechanism of managing and controlling the use of medicines more transparent and synchronised.
Unit for Medication Outcomes Research and Education (UMORE), Pharmacy, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, 7001 Hobart, Tasmania Australia.
Kah Seng
KS
Lee
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Gelugor, Penang Malaysia.
Yen Wei
YW
Lim
Unit for Medication Outcomes Research and Education (UMORE), Pharmacy, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, 7001 Hobart, Tasmania Australia ; Vector-borne Diseases Research Group (VERDI), Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Community of Research, Faculty ofPharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 42300 Puncak Alam, Selangor Malaysia.
Long Chiau
0000-0002-6971-1383
LC
Ming
Consumer engagement; Dispensing separation; Governance for medicine; Public debate; Transparency
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