Cambodia: pharmacists called to order

“From now on, anyone who does not respect professional standards faces sanctions.” This was the reminder to professionnal ethics for pharmacists in the country made last month by the Ministry of Health during a meeting of the Phnom Penh Pharmacists Association in which some 1,000 professionals participated.

During this meeting, the Ministry of Health, through the voice of Ben Botta, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry and President of the National Council of Pharmacists, aimed to remind practitioners of the legal framework of exploitation of a pharmacy and the rules to which the sale of medicines is subject.

Sale of products without marketing authorization from the ministry or of products without labels or notices, concealed expiry dates, retail sale without prescription, etc., breaches of legal obligations to the detriment of patients' health are unfortunately common in pharmacies.

Will the threat of license withdrawal be enough to put an end to illicit practices that are dangerous to public health? Le Hay Ly Eang, president of PPM Laboratories, is in doubt. “The real problem is the excessive number of pharmacies. The overwhelming majority of pharmacy students create a pharmacy once they graduate. Not everyone can be successfull. So this fierce competition leads to abuses,” he analyzes. Deeming this call to order “cosmetic”, Dr Hay Ly Eang believes that the ministry should act “upstream” in the drug distribution chain.