Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Health and Population, issued a ministerial decision regulating the process of allowing qualified pharmacists to administer medicine through Injections Intramuscular or subcutaneous, following reviewing the previously stipulated controls, and through coordination and consultation between the Ministry and the concerned authorities represented in the (House of Representatives Health Committee, the Doctors Syndicate, the Pharmacists Syndicate, the Egyptian Medicines Authority), in a way that guarantees the rights of pharmacists and facilitates patients.
This came during the meeting that the minister called for, with Dr. Ashraf Hatem, Chairman of the Health Committee in the House of Representatives, Dr. Hussein Khairy, President of the Doctors Syndicate, Dr. Abdel Nasser Sengab, member of the committee supervising the Pharmacists Syndicate, and Dr. Karim Badr, member of the Health Committee in the House of Representatives. Dr. Sherine Abdel-Gawad and Dr. Shady El-Wakeel, representatives of the Egyptian Medicines Authority, in the presence of Dr. Ehab Kamal, Assistant Minister for Professional Medical Education Affairs, Counselor Mohamed El-Minshawy, Legal Adviser to the Minister, Dr. Wael Abdel Razek, Head of the Healthcare and Nursing Sector, and Dr. Ghada Younis, Head of Administration Central Pharmacy.
Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population, indicated that the minister listened to all proposals submitted by the participants in the meeting, 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 confirmed that, during the next few days, advanced training courses will be organized for members of the medical team in all governorates of the republic, and that they will be granted the necessary certificates and licenses to ensure the safety of patients, pointing out that the minister was briefed on the training package that was prepared by specialists in the Ministry of Health. He stressed that the provision of appropriate rehabilitation is no less important than the existence of a legal framework regulating 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, pointing out that the ministerial decision included not giving injections to patients unless there is a prescription from the attending physician that requires injecting the patient with the required medication, in addition to the requirement that the pharmacist pass the training courses through The Ministry of Health or the bodies specified by the Ministry. The decision also included ensuring the availability of anti-allergic drugs, and not giving patients anything but intramuscular and subcutaneous injections only.
For his part, Dr. Ashraf Hatem, Chairman of the Health Committee in the House of Representatives, praised the quick intervention by 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 regulatory controls to allow qualified pharmacists to give injections to patients.
In his speech, Dr. Hussein Khairy, Head of the Doctors Syndicate, praised the solidarity of the concerned authorities, and the coming out of joint decisions and legislation that guarantee the rights of pharmacists, and regulate the process of injecting patients to preserve their health and safety.
Abdel Nasser Sengab, a member of the committee supervising the Pharmacists Syndicate, said that the syndicate is striving to protect the pharmacists, in parallel with ensuring the safety of the Egyptian patient, praising the Ministry of Health’s move on this matter, and the speed of taking measures in the interest of the citizen and the pharmacist.
