ALMOST 50% OF ESWATINI PHARMACIES OPERATING ILLEGALLY

MANZINI – Almost half of the pharmacies in the country are operating illegally as they do not have registered pharmacists.

This is because the number of pharmacists registered with the Eswatini Medical and Dental Council (EMDC) is 279, while trading licences issued by the Manqoba Khumalo-led Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade for pharmacies are 447. The Ministry of Health, through the Director of Health Services, Dr Vusi Magagula, said his ministry had only 279 registered pharmacists with the EMDC. He said the law stipulated that only a registered pharmacist should dispense medicines to the public. He said this when asked if there was a law which stipulated that each pharmacy had to have a qualified pharmacist. “No compromise there!” he said.

This, he said, was in the Swaziland (Eswatini) Medicines Related Substances Control Act 9 of 2016 in Section 39. Dr Magagula explained that for a prospective general medical practitioner to be registered with the EMDC, there was a need to apply proper vetting practices in regulating the medical cadre. He said there was a requirement for all medical graduates who applied for registration as general medical practitioners to sit for a pre-registration examination (PRES). He said the pre-registration examination was set to measure the basic medical knowledge and clinical competencies required to practise as a general medical practitioner in the Kingdom of Eswatini. Dr Magagula emphasised that this procedure was a common international practice among medical regulatory authorities.

According to the EMDC website, it was established through the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act of 1970 and its mandate is to regulate the registration and licensing of health professionals, their professional conduct and practice as well as training, including continued development and internship training. “The ministry is investigating the hike in the number of pharmacies in the country and there had been a number of concerning issues noted,” Dr Magagula said. The number of pharmacies surpassing that of pharmacists came against the backdrop of insinuations that some medication was being stolen in government medical facilities and sold to pharmacies. Some pharmacy personnel disclosed to this publication that there were people selling medication to them. One of the pharmacists, who gave an interview under anonymity, admitted that there were instances where there were people who approached pharmacies selling medication.

On the other hand, according to the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Siboniso Nkambule, there were 190 pharmacies in the Manzini Region, which had applied for trading licences while they were 124 in the Hhohho Region. The PS said there were 85 in the Lubombo Region while the least number of pharmacies was in the Shiselweni Region with 43. It is worth noting that this publication, last Monday, reported that a perennial trouble in the health sector was under scrutiny, as the Auditor General (AG), Timothy Matsebula, was investigating the shortage of medicines, following suspicions of theft of drugs that were sold to illegal mushrooming pharmacies. PS in the ministry of Health Dr Simon Zwane, in a recent interview with this publication, said the ministry was concerned about the burgeoning pharmacy outlets such that there were quality issues as well as, the source of the medicines and supplies sold in them.

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