Quite a number of medical doctors had failed a course in dispensing required in terms of new legislation, says South Africa’s Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
Noting that the objectives of the Medicines and Related Substances Amendment Act and its regulations were to ensure that medicines became more affordable to South Africans and that they are more safely and effectively used, she told Members of Parliament on Thursday: “On the issue of licensing of dispensing health professionals, let me say categorically that the intention of this policy is to ensure that health professionals who dispense [medication] are competent to do so and adhere to minimum standards of practice.”
“This is why we have put in place a licensing system that requires every health professional who wishes to dispense to undergo training in order to be eligible for a licence.”
“Certain prominent members of the medical profession have stated that the training requirement is an insult to doctors. But the information that we have received from institutions providing the training is that some doctors who have been dispensing for years have failed the course by a wide margin.”
“Clearly there is a need for specific training and dispensing is not something that is simply picked up on the job,” she said.
The department was not immediately able to say how many doctors had failed the course which was made up of a number of modules. However, the doctors had to pass all the modules in the course. – I-Net Bridge