Review of Pharmacy Professionals and Drug Jurisprudence to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals in Punjab Province of Pakistan

Abstract:

The current health practice of Punjab Province of Pakistan needs a serious attention to control the unnecessary drug usage, improve pharmaceutical care and establish excellent public health system. Hence, the health officials of Govt. of Pakistan have established “Drug Regulatory Authority”, and Punjab Health Department has chalked out Punjab Drug Rule, 2007 to deployed a revised health structure in Punjab. But, unluckily, the medical physicians, drug store owners and bureaucracy have not put it into actual practice. Punjab Health Department has made amendments in the Drug Rules, 2007; substituted the word “three” by the “ten” and suspended it until 2017 via notification printed in the official weekly gazette dated February 10, 2010. This potential confliction of interest can also be noticed in hospital settings, community clinical practice and other allied health institutions. The most awful part the current scenario is the insufficient aspirations to share the clinical burden to provide the health facilities for patients presented in hospital/ clinical setting. The consultant physicians and medical practitioners are very much reluctant to involve the pharmacy professionals to perform their primary professional role. They want them to stay away from their actual scientific job and keep doing the administrative and clerical work. Therefore, the current health system and drug jurisprudence needs a serious attention to address the health problem. That will help to minimize avoidable mortalities, wrong medication, irrational prescription and development of drug resistance. Moreover, a conclusive prescribing guidelines and appropriate drug jurisprudence will expedite the achievement of MDG of WHO.

Key words: Drug resistance, Millennium Development Goals, Drug rule, Pharmaceutical care, Clinical pharmacy