Egypt’s Minister of Health Khaled
Abdel-Ghaffar issued a decree on Sunday allowing only “qualified pharmacists”
to administer intramuscular and subcutaneous injections to patients at
pharmacies, regulating the practice for the first time.
The ministry’s decision comes after
an incident in October when two young sisters received antibiotic injections at
a pharmacy and subsequently died because the pharmacist failed to test for
allergies.
Both the pharmacist and her assistant
were detained by authorities and now face charges of practicing medicine
without a license, according to an official statement issued by the
prosecution.
A statement by the Ministry of Health
said the decree was issued after coordinating with the House of
Representatives’ Health Committee, the Doctors Syndicate, the Pharmacists
Syndicate and the Egyptian Medicines Authority.
The decree stipulates that patients
must present a prescription to receive an injection and that an anti-allergy
medication must be available at the pharmacy in case of an allergic reaction,
Health Ministry Spokesperson Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar said.
The decree also requires pharmacists
to pass a yet-to-be held advanced training course before being allowed to give
injections, he said.
These training courses will be held
soon and medical personnel who pass them will be granted necessary certificates
and licenses to ensure patient safety.
Source: Al-Ahram
Online
