Africa-Press – Seychelles. I refer to the letter ‘Community pharmacies are there to provide unbiased health care’ by Tanja Allcorn.
It is good to debate and have diverse opinions, and, the district of Anse Royale has surely benefited from having a community pharmacy there.
This is why diversity in the industry is so important. Diversity has offered patients and customers with a vital choice, like having access to medicines right across the island, on Sundays and public holidays, till 7pm on weekdays, and also access to alternate more affordable brands and competitive pricing. When you do a price comparison, you will find some common medications (even the same brand) are far more expensive in the pharmacies owned by pharmacists than in other pharmacies.
If there are any malpractices by non-pharmacist owners, something which needs to be supported by evidence rather than just wild generalised allegations, they can be curbed through strong regulation and active enforcement and we already have an extremely competent team in MOH doing this. Restricting ownership on the grounds that pharmacists are the only ones in the world who are ethical is not a strong enough argument; in fact there are many pharmacists worldwide who get illegal commissions from drug companies to stock and recommend only a certain brand.
The countries that restrict ownership to pharmacists are normally where there are no shortages of local qualified pharmacists. Tiny countries who have blindly followed this regulation without proper fact-based analysis, have landed up with medicine shortages and it has also led to cartel-like behaviour among pharmacists. So far, diversity has prevented this in Seychelles otherwise in a small island like ours, it would be seriously detrimental to the health care sector.
It does seem hypocritical that the few people supporting the legislation on ethical grounds are the ones who would financially benefit from the competition being shut down. Though on the contrary, because there are very few Seychellois pharmacists, this new bill opens the door for the foreign pharmacists employed in Seychelles, to now apply for their own license to fill in the gap. Would the next argument be that Seychellois pharmacists are more ethical than other nationalities?
A more detailed and sensible evaluation should be done based on what is in the best interest of the people of Seychelles, given the distinct challenges the country faces, and given that we have maybe only 6 qualified Seychellois pharmacists for a population of over 100,000. Risks have to be weighed against the benefits as regulation must protect the public, but must also not hurt them in the bargain.
Source: nation
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