The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) claims the government has given an assurance that plans for the separation of roles of doctors and pharmacists in dispensing medication, will not be implemented anytime soon.

According to MMA president Dr H Krishna Kumar, Health Minister S Subramaniam had confirmed with him that the Pharmacy Act was still far from being tabled.

“He (Subramaniam) said any report that the Act will be tabled in Parliament on April 1 is simply not true," Krishna was quoted as saying by English daily The Sun .

"We were also told that there will be no separation of roles in dispensing and prescribing medications in this Act," he added.

Krishna emphasised that the main reason why the MMA is objecting to the separation of roles in dispensing and prescribing medications, is because the country is not ready for it due to the insufficient number of pharmacists and pharmacies.

He pointed out that people in the rural areas would also suffer because pharmacies were not freely available in these parts.

If the Act is tabled, they would have to travel to town to get their medication - when they can currently obtain it from the general practitioner in their areas.

Lack of 24-hour pharmacies

Another key issue is that there are not many 24-hour pharmacies where patients can obtain their medication. However, there are general practitioners who are available all day, which makes it easier for patients to get their medication.

He stressed that this system will cause a great deal of confusion as pharmacists may not readily have the drugs prescribed by doctors, which will be an inconvenience to patients who will then have to go pharmacy-hunting for their prescribed medication.

Meanwhile, Utusan Malaysia reported Krishna as saying that the possible separation of the roles of doctors and pharmacists also drew concerns on the rising cost of medication.

Medical practitioners are worried that consumers have to foot an additional bill for consulting pharmacists, which would subsequently affect their source of income at private clinics.

The separation of roles has been implemented in government hospitals, as well as private hospitals which have a capacity of more than 50 beds.

The new suggestion, however, will include private clinics as well.