Pharmacists demand proper recognition

THE Retail Pharmacists Association yesterday told Parliament that they could not continue to be viewed as health workers that served under the directives of medical doctors.

They said this when they appeared before the Ruth Labode-led Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health, with their representative Luckmore Bunu adding that the view was misdirected.

Recently, they petitioned Parliament demanding that they must be cognised for top positions such as secretary in the Health ministry, which has been the preserve of medical doctors.

“Being pharmacists, we would like to plead with this House to hear the petition based on facts, and avoid logical fallacies that some witnesses might have introduced to misdirect the august House in ruling against the petition,” Bunu said.

“It is in the public domain and on record that medical practitioners and boards that represent them introduced an ad hominem fallacy. Instead of representing their facts in relation to the petition, they began to attack the pharmacists by implying that they ‘serve’ medical doctors under instruction.”

He said Parliament should consider the role of pharmacists as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), adding that they were pivotal in the training of future health professionals.

“It is the prayer of the petitioners that such malice be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. The petitioners are aware of the argumentum and ignorantiam (argument from ignorance), and fallacy that same witness provided in this august House," Bunu said.