Dr Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Health and Population, issued a ministerial decision regulating the process for enabling qualified pharmacists to administer medicines through Injections By intramuscular or subcutaneous injection, after reviewing the controls previously envisaged, and through coordination and consultation between the Ministry and the relevant authorities represented in the (Health Committee of the House of Representatives, the Union of Doctors, the Union of Pharmacists, the Egyptian Medicines Authority), so that it guarantees the rights of pharmacists and makes it easier for patients.
This occurred during the meeting that the minister convened, with Dr Ashraf Hatem, chairman of the health committee in the House of Representatives, Dr Hussein Khairy, chairman of the doctors union, Dr Abdel Nasser Sengab, member of the supervisory union of Pharmacists, and Dr. Karim Badr, member of the Health Commission of the House of Representatives, Dr. Sherine Abdel-Gawad and Dr. Shady El-Wakeel, representatives of the Egyptian Medicines Authority, at the presence of Dr. Ehab Kamal, Deputy Minister for Professional Medical Education Affairs, Advisor Mohamed El-Minshawy, Legal Advisor to the Minister, Dr. Wael Abdel Razek, Head of Health and Nursing Sector, and Dr. Ghada Younis, Head of Central Pharmacy Administration.
Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the official spokesman of the Ministry of Health and Population, indicated that the minister has listened to all the proposals presented by the meeting participants, regarding the regulation and legalization of intramuscular or subcutaneous injections for patients through qualified pharmacists , through advanced training programs.
Abdul Ghaffar said that the minister has confirmed that, in the coming days, advanced training courses will be organized for members of the medical team in all the governorates of the republic, and that they will be issued with the necessary certificates and licenses to guarantee safety of patients, stressing that the minister was briefed on the training package prepared by specialists from the Ministry of Health and stressed that the provision of adequate rehabilitation is no less important than the existence of a legal framework that regulates all medical procedures.
Abdel Ghaffar added that the minister stressed that the health and safety of the Egyptian patient is a top priority for the Ministry of Health, stressing that the ministerial decision was to not give injections to patients unless there is a doctor’s prescription doctor who requests the injection of the patient with the required drugs, in addition to the obligation for the pharmacist to pass training courses at the Ministry of Health or the bodies indicated by the Ministry. The decision also envisaged guaranteeing the availability of anti-allergic drugs and to give nothing to patients but only intramuscular and subcutaneous injections.
For his part, Dr Ashraf Hatem, chairman of the health committee of the House of Representatives, praised the rapid intervention of the Ministry of Health to resolve the crisis, stressing that these legislations would preserve the medical team and the lives of patients, which include setting up regulatory controls to allow qualified pharmacists to administer injections to patients.
In his speech, Dr. Hussein Khairy, head of the doctors’ union, praised the solidarity of the authorities concerned and the release of common decisions and laws that guarantee the rights of pharmacists and regulate the process of injecting patients to preserve their health and security.
Abdel Nasser Sengab, a member of the committee overseeing the Pharmacists Union, said the union was making efforts to protect pharmacists, alongside ensuring Egyptian patient safety, praising the Health Ministry’s move on this matter and the speed to take measures in the interest of the citizen and the pharmacist.
