LAHORE: The World Pharmacists Day being observed on Sunday (today) promises nothing for these professionals in Punjab where over 6,000 posts of pharmacists are lying vacant.

The data sounds more dismal to the province where even the major teaching hospitals are facing an acute shortage of clinical pharmacists. The government’s apathy could be gauged by the fact that there are only two pharmacists in the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) Lahore, where over 100 patients had died in a drug reaction scam in 2012.

An official privy to the information told Dawn that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had also ordered posting of at least one clinical pharmacist against 50 beds in public sector hospitals. The ratio had also been recommended by a high-powered commission formed in the wake of the PIC drug reaction scam, he added.

Similarly, the commission had recommended the establishment of Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) system at all the major teaching hospitals of the province envisaging a major role for the clinical pharmacists.

But, to utter disappointment of the stake-holders the Punjab government paid no heed to these recommendations, the official regretted.

“While the role of pharmacists are being recognised world over, our successive governments have been looking other way”, he said.

Sharing some more facts, he said Punjab was even lagging behind in this regard as compared to Balochistan. “Over 500 pharmacists are in the government jobs in Balochistan as compare to Punjab where the number was 490 only despite being the largest province with regard to population and resources”, the official said.

He said the Balochistan government was giving non-practicing allowance (NPA) and health professional allowance (HPA) to the pharmacists while this facility was being denied to them in Punjab.

Similarly, he said, a hospital pharmacist was drawing only Rs38,000 pay in Punjab, while the salary structure of their colleagues in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa was much better.

He also drew a grim picture in respect of availability of pharmacists, saying the PIC in Lahore had only two pharmacists despite being a critical care facility.

“Only four government hospitals in Punjab have sufficient number of pharmacists and they were appointed by the PML-Q government”, the official said. Of the four hospitals, 65 pharmacists were appointed at Mayo Hospital, 26 at Jinnah Hospital, 18 at Lahore General Hospital and eight at the Aziz Bhatti Hospital (Gujrat).

Since then, no considerable appointments had been made to overcome the shortage, the official said.

In 2012, he said, the Punjab government had issued a notification for establishment of ADR system, Pharmacy Services Department and posting of more pharmacists at the state-run hospitals. The notification remained stuck in the official files as no worthwhile step was taken in the interest of the patients.

“In England, a pharmacist has been authorised to write prescription to the patients while in Pakistan they are forced to work as receptionists at the government hospitals”, a senior pharmacist, Dr Noor Mohammad Mehar, said.

He said it was the time for the Punjab government to realise the importance of these professionals.

Meanwhile, in a message issued in connection with the day, the Pakistan Young Pharmacist Association demanded the government should establish 20,000 small pharmaceutical manufacturing units every year to compete India and rest of the world.

The pharmacists should take advantage of the prime minister’s scheme of giving Rs2 million loans to the skilled professionals to help establish their own units, says Dr Hina Sahaukat, the joint secretary of the association.

“The government should also give preference to the pharmacists to run these units in order to make local pharmaceutical industry best in the world”, she says.

She said if the PM’s scheme was properly utilised, Pakistan would have 200,000 small to large pharmaceutical units in the next 10 years.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2016