LAHORE: Most hospitals have one pharmacist available for over 1,200 beds, while the World Health Organi­sation (WHO) has set a standard of one pharmacist per 50 beds all over the world, Noor Mehar, a pharmacist and leader of the Pakistan Pharma­cists Forum (PPF), said on Sunday.

Discussing the role of a pharmacist, Mr Mehar said that a pharmacist prescribed the quantity and quality of medicines for a patient. He explained that pharmacy services meant services rendered by a pharmacist in pharmaceutical care — selection, counselling, dispensing, prescription, monitoring and drug utilisation.

According to Mr Mehar, there are around 45 institutions in the public and private sectors where pharmacy is taught, including 28 in Punjab, which produce around 2,700 pharmacists every year.

“Over 15,000 pharmacists are in need of employment, out of which 10,000 are in Punjab,” he said, adding that there were many vacancies in hospitals.

“At least 88 posts of pharmacists are vacant in the Lahore General Hospital and 25 in the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC),” he claimed.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2016