Extend contract of pharmacists

AS we approach the end of 2019, the fate and future of government pharmacists under contract still hangs in the balance. The first batch of contract pharmacists who started in December 2016 will have their contracts up for extension in December 2019 and there is still no concrete news from the Health Ministry on what will happen to these pharmacists.

While some have left public service, many pharmacists in their final months of contract are still serving the country. The Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society (MPS) has received many appeals from the officers waiting to hear if their contracts will be extended while waiting for a permanent position.

The pharmacy scheme, along with the medical and dental scheme, forms the backbone of the Malaysian healthcare system. Ever since compulsory service was introduced in the public sector in 2004, pharmacy services have expanded year after year to include value added services such as medication counselling, home medication review, medication therapy adherence clinics, methadone replacement therapy, drivethrough pharmacy services, medicines by post, Locker to You, and Know Your Medicines programmes have been established to provide greater pharmacy services to the rakyat.

Contract pharmacists serve the country well and should be seen as an asset. Their services are crucially required to deliver the Health Ministry’s vision that places primary care as its main focus. Pharmacists, who are medicine experts, are highly trained and able to provide valuable input on health promotion and preventive care.

Therefore, MPS would like to urge the Ministry of Health to consider extending the contract of pharmacists while they find a solution to increase the number of permanent positions.

AMRAHI BUANG President, Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society