Retailers ignored rules: Liko

HEALTH secretary Dr Osborne Liko says it is illegal to run a medical clinic in the same premises as a pharmacy and retailers have not heeded instructions of compliance since 2015.
Dr Liko, who is also the chairman of the Pharmacy Board and Licensing Authority of Papua New Guinea, was responding to a query by The National regarding a circular from the department last week.
It directed the management of retail pharmacy outlets to close down and abolish all clinics or nurse stations operating within the vicinity or the same premises as the retail pharmacy outlets.
Thousands access health care at clinics within pharmacies.
Dr Liko said operating pharmacy retailers have been breaching the law by creating nursing stations and clinics within and in the precinct of the pharmacy.
He said despite formal warnings from the Medical Board in 2015 and Pharmacy Board in July, pharmacy retailers continued to ignore the instructions of compliance.
“Prescriptions of all medicines are only to be prescribed by competent and accredited (licensed) medical practitioners registered by the Medical Board of PNG,” he said.
“Any nursing station in any premises, even at the pharmacy retail, must be inspected, certified and must be registered by the Medical Board of PNG.
“Above flaws have not only been illegal but condoned in the past and perpetuated to resistance and poor management of common illness such as malaria, resistance and abuse of prescription of common antibiotics as well as prescription of special category prescription medications such as misoprostol causing deaths in worse case scenarios.”
Dr Liko said the issues were:

• PHARMACY retailers, imports and pharmaceutical wholesales and distributions are licensed and regulated by the Pharmacy Board of PNG to ensure compliance of good practice and standards and monitoring guidelines are complied with according to PNG laws stipulated under the Medicines (Drugs) and Cosmetics Act 1999 and Regulations 2002;
• ANY nursing stations and clinics inside the premises or the precinct of pharmacy are illegal as there is no provision under the law for this clinical observation of any form or any treatment to be prescribed by nurses from nursing stations; and,
• ACCORDING to jurisdiction of competency and prescribed pharmaco-vigilance of treatment, complications, doses of treatment regime, option and choice of treatment according to evidence-based reports are mandated by law (Medical Registration Act 1980) and only prescribed (prescription) authorised by medical officers (and) not nurses.