• INTRODUCTION
• MEMBERS OF THE BOARD
• SECRETARIAT OF THE BOARD
• FUNCTIONS OF THE PHARMACY BOARD
• ACTIVITIES OF THE PHARMACY BOARD IN 2003
• ACCREDITATION OF PHARMACY PROGRAMMES
• OTHER ISSUES
• CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

The Pharmacy Board of Malaysia is established under the provision of Section 3 of the Registration of Pharmacist Act 1951. The Board consists of 18 members who are from the public sector and private sector. The secretary of the Board is not a member of the Board and is from the public sector. For the administration and running of the Board, the Ministry of Health provides a secretariat.

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

The Board consists of 18 members of whom 2 are ex-officio members i.e. the Director General of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia [MOH] and Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Pharmaceutical Services Division [PSD], MOH.

In this year 2003, new members were appointed to the Board. All of these new members have a term from 30th August 2003 to 29th August 2006 except for 2 members whose terms will end on the 30th September 2004. The members of the Board from 2001 to 30th August 2003 were:

1. President/ Registrar – Director General of Health ex-officio
   Y. Bhg. Tan Sri Datu Hj. Dr Mohamad Taha bin Arif

2. Director of Pharmaceutical Services - ex-officio
   Y. Bhg. Dato' Che Mohd. Zin bin Che Awang

3. Six registered pharmacists from the public service
   1. Dr. Ahmad bin Mahmud
   2. Y. Bhg. Datin Hasiah bt. Abdullah (term will end on 30th September 2004)
   3. Mr. David Matanjun
   4. Mr Joseph Loi Lik King
   5. Mr Teoh Hock Guan (term will end on 30th September 2004)
   6. Tuan Haji Mohtar bin Mohd
   7. [vacant]
   8. [vacant]
      
      
4. Three registered pharmacists from universities:

   1. Prof. Madya Dr. P.T Thomas
   2. Prof. Madya Dr. Chua Siew Siang
   3. Prof. Madya Dr. Zuraidah bt. Mohd Yusof
      
      
5. Two registered pharmacists not in the public service:
   1. Mr. Liew Kee Hooi
   2. Madam Helen Aw
   
   
6. Three registered pharmacists not in the public service and nominated by the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society:
   1. Mr. John Chang Chiew Pheng
   2. Dr. Choe Tong Seng
   3. Prof. Dr. Abu Bakar bin Abdul Majeed
   
   
7. SECRETARY:
   Mr. Lai Lim Swee ¨C Deputy Director of Pharmaceutical Services

Below are members of the board with a 3 years term starting from 29th August 2003 (except for 2 members whose terms end on the 30th September 2004)

1. President/Registrar - Director General of Health ex-officio
   Y. Bhg. Tan Sri Datu Hj. Dr Mohamad. Taha bin Arif
   
   
2. Director of Pharmaceutical Services - ex-officio
   Y. Bhg. Dato' Che Mohd. Zin bin Che Awang
   
   
3. Eight registered pharmacists in the public service
   1. Dr. Ahmad bin Mahmud
   2. Y. Bhg. Datin Hasiah bt. Abdullah (term will end on 30 September 2004)
   3. Mr. David Matanjun
   4. Mr. Rusdy George Wong bin Abdullah
   5. Mr. Teoh Hock Guan (term will end on 30 September 2004)
   6. Mr. C. Ragupathy Naidu
   7. Tuan Hj. Mohtar bin Mohd
   8. Miss Sameerah bt. Shaik Abdul Rahman
      
      
4. Three Registered pharmacists from universities:
   1. Prof. Madya Dr. Rosnaini bt. Hashim
   2. Prof. Madya Dr. Mohd. Baidi bin Bahari
   3. Prof. Madya Dr. Hajjah Samsinah Hussain
      
      
5. Two registered pharmacists not in public service:
   1. Mr. Liew Kee Hooi
   2. Mrs. Yip Sook Ying
      
      
6. Three registered pharmacists not in public service and nominated by the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society:
   1. Mr. John Chang Chiew Pheng
   2. Prof. Madya Dr. Rahmat bin Awang
   3. Prof. Dr Yeoh Peng Nam
      
      
7. SECRETARY:
   Mr. Lai Lim Swee, Deputy Director of Pharmaceutical Services PSD, MOH.

PHARMACY BOARD MALAYSIA

SECRETARIAT OF THE BOARD

PHARMACY BOARD SECRETARIAT

FUNCTIONS OF THE PHARMACY BOARD

Pharmacy Board is responsible for controlling the pharmacy profession through the following activities:

1. Registration and deregistration of Pharmacists;
2. Registration and deregistration of Corporate Bodies;
3. Registration of Pupil Pharmacists;
4. Recognition of pharmacy degrees;
5. Approval of premise for pre-registration training of pharmacy graduates;
6. Setting guidelines and standards on issues related to recognition/accreditation of pharmacy programme and practice;
7. Conducting pharmacy forensic examinations;
8. Conducting inquiries on complaints of unethical practices;

In carrying out these duties, the board was assisted by various committees such as:

1. Evaluation and Registration Committee;
2. Forensic Examination Committee;
3. Training Committee;

1. EVALUATION AND REGISTRATION COMMITTEE

1. Main Duties
• Responsible for the evaluation of local and overseas pharmacy programmes
• Approving registration for individual pharmacists and Body Corporate

2. Members
   • Y. Bhg. Dato' Che Mohd. Zin bin Che Awang (Chairperson)
     Director of Pharmaceutical Services
     Ministry of Health Malaysia
     
     
   • Prof. (Dr). Aishah binti Adam
     Professor and Lecturer
     Faculty of Pharmacy
     MARA University of Technology
     
     
   • Prof. Madya (Dr). P.T. Thomas
     Associate Professor and Lecturer
     Pharmacy Department
     Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
     
     
   • Prof. Madya (Dr) Chua Siew Siang
     Associate Professor and Lecturer
     Pharmacy Department
     Malaya University
     
     
   • Prof. Madya (Dr). Zuraidah Mohd. Yusoff
     Associate Professor and Lecturer
     Pharmacy Department
     Universiti Sains Malaysia
     
     
   • Mr. John Chang Chiew Pheng
     President
     Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society
     
     
   • Dr. Sulaikah Moideen
     Principal Assistant Director
     National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau
     Ministry of Health Malaysia
     
     
3. Secretariat
   Rosliza bt. Lajis
   Assistant Director of Pharmaceutical Services Division
   
   
2. FORENSIC EXAMINATION COMMITTEE

1. Main Duties
• Setting of questions for Forensic Examination
• Examiner for written and oral examination

2. Members
   • Tuan Haji Mohtar bin Mohd
     Deputy Director of health (Pharmacy)
     Terengganu State Health Department
     Ministry of Health Malaysia
     
     
   • Mr. Azman bin Yahya
     Principal Assistant Director (Enforcement)
     Pharmaceutical Services Division
     Ministry of Health Malaysia
     
     
   • Mr. Yeap Ling Soon
     Principal Assistant Director (Enforcement)
     Department of Health, Selangor
     
     
   • Prof Dr. Abu Bakar bin Abdul Majeed
     Dean Faculty of Pharmacy
     MARA University of Technology
     
     
3. Secretariat
   Miss Rosliza bt. Lajis
   Assistant Director of Pharmaceutical Services Division

3. TRAINING COMMITTEE

1. Main Duties
• Preparation and Maintenance of the Training Guideline for Pupil Pharmacist
• Dealing with matters related to training and recognition of places of training by Pharmacy Board

2. Members
   • Dr. Ahmad bin Mahmud (Chairman)
     Deputy Director of Pharmaceutical Services (Enforcement)
     Pharmaceutical Services Division
     Ministry of Health Malaysia
     
     
   • Tuan Haji Mohd. Hatta bin Ahmad
     Principal Assistant Director
     Ministry of Health Malaysia
     
     
   • Mr. Azman bin Yahya
     Principal Assistant Director (Enforcement)
     Pharmaceutical Services Division
     Ministry of Health Malaysia
     
     
   • Prof. Madya Dr. Hajjah Samsinah binti Haji Hussain
     Department of Pharmacy
     Universiti Malaya
     
     
   • Dr. Ahmad Fuad bin Shamsuddin
     Lecturer
     Department of Pharmacy
     Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
     
     
   • Mr. Yip Sook Ying
     Manager
     Farmasi Alychem Sdn. Bhd
     
     
   • Mr. Ewe Kheng Huat
     Pharmacist
     Malaysia Pharmaceutical Society (MPS)

The Board considered the setting up of a disciplinary advisor committee to advise the Board on disciplinary matters. However this suggestion was not followed through as the legal adviser of Ministry of Health gave an opinion this is not legally allowed under the Board. However a version of this committee was finally formed under the Pharmaceutical Services Division, MOH.

The Committee for the Amendments to the Act was dissolved in 2003 because another committee in the PSD was already performing the task.

ACTIVITIES OF THE PHARMACY BOARD IN 2003

MEETINGS OF THE BOARD

The pharmacy Board held 2 meetings in 2003:

• 83rd meeting on 18th February 2003
• 84th meeting on 7th October 2003

A few policies were decided in these meetings.

Evaluation and Registration Committee

This committee held 11 meetings in 2003.

ACCREDITATION OF PHARMACY PROGRAMMES

Evaluation Visit on the pharmacy programme of the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) in Shah Alam campus on 19 August 2003

• The Evaluation panel of the Board visited the programme for the first time on 19th August 2003 to evaluate the programme. This Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) programme had already started on the 2nd August 2001.
• The evaluation was on the facilities for the 1st year and 2nd year students and the panel also met with the lecturers of the faculty.
• The Panel agreed that the first and second year of the programme was satisfactory. However the panel noted that although UiTM has put in much effort to increase the number of lecturers, the numbers were still not optimum. The Panel will conduct another evaluation visit when the first cohort is in their final year.

Evaluation visit on pharmacy programme of the Islamic International University [IIUM/UIA] at Kuantan Campus on 15 and 16 September 2003

• The evaluation panel of the Board paid a first visit to IIUM to evaluate the pharmacy program on 15th and 16th September 2003.
• The Panel agreed that the programme was satisfactory but the panel also noted that the IIUM programme was having problems in obtaining lecturers. IIUM will need to increase the number of lecturers by the following year.

Full Recognition of the Twinning Programme Between Sepang Institute of Technology (SIT) and University of South Australia (UniSA)

• SIT applied for full recognition of the SIT-UNISA programme and in their application, the Pharmacy Board was informed that the first batch of the SIT-UNISA students has graduated at the end of 2003.
• This programme started in year 2000 where this programme required their students to complete year 1 and year 2 in Malaysia and year 3 and year 4 in Adelaide, Australia.
• The Board in the 80th meeting had given provisional recognition status to this programme.
• On 8 December 2003, the evaluation panel of the Board held an evaluation meeting with 10 graduates of the SIT-UNISA programme and also with some lecturers from UniSA.
• The evaluation panel concluded that the SIT-UNISA programme can be given full recognition.
• The Board at the 85th meeting endorsed the recommendation of the panel and full recognition was given to the SIT-UNISA programme.

PHARMACY FORENSIC EXAMINATION

To prepare for the examinations, the Forensic Examination Committee held 4 meetings on

• 7 to 9 April 2003
• 25 June 2003
• 5 September 2003
• 22 to 24 September 2003

Two examinations were held in 2003 at four different centres simultaneously at Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak. The pharmacy undergraduates at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Malaya and Universiti Sains Malaysia also sat for the same examination papers on the same day and time at their respective universities.

• The first examination was held on 9 June 2003 and the subsequent was held on 10 November 2003.
• 261 candidates out of 269 who applied sat for the examination.
• There were 45 failures out of the total 261 candidates i.e. 82.8% passed the examination

Table 1: Forensic Examination 2003
(not inclusive of candidates from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Malaya)

The number of candidates in the November examination was more than double that of the June examination. The probable reason is that a great number of pharmacists working overseas were sitting for the examination in order to be eligible to register themselves in Malaysia before the implementation of the compulsory service. The government intended to impose a compulsory service in the government sector for all pharmacists who register themselves as pharmacists. However those who are already registered and on the register of the Board before the implementation of compulsory service will be exempted from the compulsory service.

Table 2: Forensic Examination Profile from 1998 - 2003
(not inclusive of candidates from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Malaya)

The number of candidates for 2002 is particularly high because instead of the normal 2 examinations per year, 3 examinations were held in 2002.

Graph 1: Number of Candidates Passed Forensic Examination

1998 to 2003

Chart 1: Percentage of the Pass and Failures in Forensic Examination

Graph 2: Percentage of passes in Forensic Examination

REGISTRATION OF PHARMACIST, BODY CORPORATE AND PUPIL PHARMACIST

The number of pharmacists on the register in 2003 increase by about 27% compared to 2002.

Table 3: Statistics for New Registration and Renewal of Registration For Pharmacists and Corporate Bodies

REGISTERED PHARMACIST FOR YEAR 2003

Local graduates who register in 2003:

Foreign graduates who registered in 2003:

The total of foreign graduates increased by 36 graduates in year 2003 compare to year 2002. In year 2003, 67 British graduates registered with PBM whereas only 18 registered in year 2002.

Graduates from Twinning Programme:

• IMU: International Medical University
• SIT/UniSA: Sepang Institute of Technology and University of South Australia

PUPIL PHARMACISTS FOR YEAR 2003

329 pupil pharmacist registered with the Board in year 2003 compared to 299 in year 2002. 197 pupils were from local university and 132 from foreign university.

DISTRIBUTION OF REGISTERED PHARMACISTS THAT RENEWED THEIR ANNUAL CERTIFICATE IN YEAR 2003

3160 pharmacists applied and were issued their Annual Retention Certificate [ARC] in 2003.

Table 4: The distribution [according to states] of pharmacists with ARC for 2003.

From the above statistics, only 25.25% from the total of 3160 served in public sector in 2003 compared to 56.45% served in private sector. 33 pharmacists working in Singapore renewed their registration.

Graph 4. Distribution of Pharmacists with *ARC by sector

*ARC: Annual Retention Certificate

ETHNIC PROFILE OF REGISTERED PHARMACISTS IN 2003

Table 5: Ethnic Profile Of Registered Pharmacists In 2003

Table 6: Ethnic profile according to states

"LETTER OF GOOD STANDING"

The Board issued 27 letters of good standing in 2003 to pharmacists who applied for them for the purpose of registration with registration authorities in other countries.

OTHER ISSUES

Delay in Issuing Arc

ARC for Pharmacist and Body Corporate is essential for the retention on the register of Pharmacists and Body Corporate. These certificates need to be issued out by the end of each year but a computer problem caused a longer than usual delay in the issuance of ARC.

Approval on the Implementation of Compulsory Service

The Registration of Pharmacist Act 1951 was amended to allow for the implementation of the compulsory service in the government sector for all pharmacists who wish to register with the Board. The new act was passed by the Dewan Rakyat on the 11 November 2003 and the Dewan Negara on the 20 November 2003. The compulsory service mandated that pharmacists who register with the Board must serve the government for 1 year as provisionally registered pharmacists followed by 3 years of service to the government as fully registered pharmacists. The 1 year service as a provisionally registered pharmacist is equivalent to the pupilage under the old law.

RECOGNITION OF UNIVERSITIES IN IRELAND, RUSIA AND INDIA

Ireland

Royal College of Surgeon, Ireland has applied for recognition and the Board has forwarded the application to Public Services Department [PSD] for further action.

Rusia

The government proposed that pharmacy programmes in Russia be recognized. The Board had obtained form the Russian authorities a list of 11 top universities that offer pharmacy courses for consideration for recognitions. The Board had forwarded this list to the PSD and awaits further development on this issue.

India

The government directed that pharmacy programmes in India be considered for recognition and the Board had obtained from the Pharmacy Council of India through the Indian authorities, a list of the top universities that offered pharmacy courses. The Board has forwarded this list to the Public Services Department and awaits further development on this issue.

CONCLUSION

The Board saw a number of new faces as members of the Board in 2003 due to the expiry of terms of services of some of the members. Several universities were evaluated for recognition. Proposals had been made to PSD on the possible recognition of some universities in India and Russia but as at the end of 2003, the proposals were still pending. The year showed an increased registration of new pharmacists but this could be in part caused by the then impending implementation of compulsory service. However these statistics indicate that the number of graduates per year has exceeded the 300 mark and is nearing the 400 mark. As in previous years, the numbers of pharmacists working in the private sector far outnumber the pharmacists working in the government sector.