• INTRODUCTION
• MEMBERS
• SECRETARIAT
• FUNCTIONS
• ACTIVITIES IN 2004
• OTHER ISSUES
• CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

The Pharmacy Board of Malaysia [PBM] 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 and private sector and a secretary from the public sector who is not a member of the Board. For the administration and running of the Board, the Ministry of Health provides a secretariat.

[ Back to Top ]

MEMBERS

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 2004, 2 members, The honourable, Datin Hasiah binti Abdullah and Mr Teoh Hock Guan finished their terms in office on 30th September 2004. They were replaced by Mr Mohamad Zamri bin Othman and Mr Leong Hor Yew. The members of the Board in 2004 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. Eight registered pharmacists from the public service

1. Dr. Ahmad bin Mahmud
2. Y. Bhg. Datin Hasiah binti Abdullah (term ended on 30th September 2004 and she was replaced by Mr. Mohamad Zamri bin Othman)
3. Mr. David Matanjun
4. Mr Rusdy George Wong bin Abdullah
5. Mr Teoh Hock Guan (term ended on 30th September 2004 and he was replaced by Mr Leong Hor Yew)
6. Tuan Haji Mohtar bin Mohd
7. Miss Sameerah binti Shaik Rahman
8. Mr C. Ragupathy Naidu

4. Three registered pharmacists from universities:

1. Prof. Madya Dr. Rosnani binti Hashim
2. Prof. Madya Dr. Mohd Baidi bin Bahari
3. Prof. Madya Dr. Hajjah Samsinah binti Hussain

5. Two registered pharmacists not in the public service:

1. Mr. Liew Kee Hooi
2. Mrs. Yip Sook Ying

6. Three registered pharmacists not in the 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, Ministry of Health Malaysia
   

PHARMACY BOARD MALAYSIA

[ Back to Top ]

SECRETARIAT

The Secretariat was headed by Miss Rosliza binti Lajis for the initial part of the year and starting from April, Mr Baharudin Baba, a Principal Assistant Director took over as head of the secretariat with Miss Rosliza assisting.

PHARMACY BOARD SECRETARIAT

[ Back to Top ]

FUNCTIONS

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 [before 2nd September 2004];

4. Registration of Provisionally Registered Pharmacists [on and after 2nd September 2004];

5. Recognition of pharmacy degrees;

6. Approval of premises for pre-registration training of pharmacy graduates;

7. Setting guidelines and standards on issues related to recognition of pharmacy programme and practice;

8. Conducting pharmacy forensic examinations;

9. Conducting enquiries into complaints of unethical practices by registered Pharmacists

In carrying out these duties, the board was assisted by various committees and these are:

1. Evaluation and Registration Committee

2. Forensic Examination Committee

3. Training Committee

EVALUATION AND REGISTRATION COMMITTEE

Main Duties

• Responsible for the evaluation of local and overseas pharmacy programmes
• Registration of individual pharmacists and Body Corporate

Members

• Y. Bhg. Dato' Che Mohd. Zin bin Che Awang (Chairman)
  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
  Universiti Malaya
  
  
• 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
  

Secretariat

• Mr Baharudin bin Baba
  Principal Assistant Director, Pharmaceutical Services Division
  
  
• Ms Rosliza binti Lajis
  Assistant Director, Pharmaceutical Services Division
  

FORENSIC EXAMINATION COMMITTEE

Main Duties

• Setting questions for Forensic Examination
• Conducts Forensic Examination
• As examiners for written and oral examination

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
  

Secretariat

• Mr Baharudin bin Baba
  Principal Assistant Director, Pharmaceutical Services Division
  
  
• Ms Rosliza binti Lajis
  Assistant Director, Pharmaceutical Services Division
  

TRAINING COMMITTEE

Main Duties

• Preparation and maintenance of the Training Guideline for Pupil Pharmacist Provisionally Registered Pharmacists
• Dealing with matters related to training and recognition of places of training by Pharmacy Board

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
  Pharmaceutical Services Division
  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
  Lecturer
  Department of Pharmacy
  Universiti Malaya
  
  
• Dr. Ahmad Fuad bin Shamsuddin
  Lecturer
  Department of Pharmacy
  Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
  
  
• Dr. Syed Ibrahim bin Syed Mohd. Ismail
  Pharmacist
  Malaysian Organisation of Pharmaceutical Industries (MOPI)
  
  
• Mrs. Yip Sook Ying
  Pharmacist
  Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society (MPS)
  
  
• Mr. Ewe Kheng Huat
  Pharmacist
  Pharmaceutical Association of Malaysia (PhAma)
  

Secretariat

• Mr Baharudin bin Baba
  Principal Assistant Director, Pharmaceutical Services Division
  
  
• Ms Rosliza binti Lajis
  Assistant Director, Pharmaceutical Services Division
  

This committee was particularly active this year in preparing the training manual for provisionally registered pharmacists, when the Compulsory Service of Pharmacists started from 2nd September 2004.

[ Back to Top ]

ACTIVITIES IN 2004

MEETINGS OF THE BOARD

The pharmacy Board held 2 meetings in 2004:

• 85th meeting of PBM on 30th April 2004
• 86th meeting of PBM on 17th August 2004

Policies and issues in these meetings

85th Meeting

	Policies and Issues
a.	The Board appointed Prof. Madya Dr Mohd Baidi bin Bahari as the Chairman of the Continuous Professional Development [CPD] Committee of the Board
b.	The Board decided that the replacement of lost or spoiled Registration Certificate will be made with a new certificate but with additional wordings 'Sijil Gantian'. These certificates will have the old numbers but will be signed by the present registrar.
c.	The Board approved the full recognition of the Bachelor of Pharmacy and Bachelor of Pharmacy [Honours] of University of South Australia [UniSA] twinning with Sepang Institute of Technology [SIT]
d.	The Board will continue conducting forensic examination for those who are in pupillage before the implementation of the compulsory service.
e.	The Board approved the universities from India, Pakistan and Ireland that were previously listed with conditions, to be listed under the First Schedule of the Registration of Pharmacists Act (Amendment) 2003
f.	The Board approved the exemption of a group of pharmacists from full registration 3 years compulsory service and another group from period of training while under Provisional Registration Group A – graduates who have undergone pupillage training or are undergoing pupillage training in countries recognised by the Board and are registered in these countries before the start of compulsory service Group B – graduates who have started their training in countries that are recognised by the Board after the start of compulsory service
g.	The Board decided that for spouses of Malaysians who applied for registration renewal, they must submit their statutory declaration that they are still spouses of Malaysians
h.	The Board agreed with the status "approved by Lembaga Akreditasi Negara [LAN] to start course" for the Bachelor of Pharmacy [Honours] course of Universiti Teknologi Mara [UiTM].
i.	The Board agreed to allow the graduates of University College Sedaya International [UCSI] + Universiti Sains Malaysia [USM] pharmacy course to start pupilage before their program was officially given full recognition.
j.	The Board approved the full recognition of the UCSI-USM pharmacy course
k.	The Board approved the scheduled gradation of recognition of pharmacy courses to the following levels. Approval by LAN to start course First Monitoring [1st year] Second Monitoring [2nd year] Provisional Recognition after the first batch of students have completed or are in 3/4 of their course Full Recognition after the passing out of the first batch of graduates Thus for those institutions that have not obtained full recognition, the Board will make yearly evaluation visit to these institutions until they obtain full recognition.

86th Meeting

	Policies and Issues
a.	The Board approved the deletion of the requirement of a pass in the official Taiwan National Examination for the purpose of registration as pharmacists with the Board for graduates from the 3 recognised universities in Taiwan.
b.	The Board agreed that a tutor serving in public universities can be considered as compulsory service but did not agree that the tutor can be considered as completing a period of training while under provisional registration.
c.	The Board agreed to the exemption from compulsory service for the following groups of pharmacists who are Malaysians, hold basic qualifications recognised by the Board and are registered in countries recognised by the Board. Those pharmacists who hold: PhD qualifications in a pharmacy field and/ or qualifications of the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialities [BPS] USA

Evaluation and Registration Committee

This committee held 11 meetings in 2004

Meeting	Date	Issues discussed [excluding the registration of pharmacists and body corporate]
1/04	27 January 2004	Application from IMU to starts Bachelor of Pharmacy [Hons] Information on the twinning programme of UCSI and Curtin University of Technology, Australia
2/04	26 February 2004	Updating of the list of recognised qualifications Consideration for graduates of UCSI-USM pharmacy course to undergo training
3/04	22 March 2004	Planning of visit to UCSI on 29-30 March 2004 Review of the listing of recognised qualifications
4/04	14 April 2004	Review of listing of recognised qualifications for uploading into website Setting up of the process of recognition by the evaluation panel of the Board Consideration of Letter of Application of Moscow Medical Academy to recognise their pharmacy program Consideration of application for registration from an Indian citizen with qualification from Nagpur University, India
5/04	11 May 2004	Planning of evaluation visit calender to universities for purpose of recognition Consideration of suggestion of University of Newcastle Australia to take in graduates of biomedicines, health sciences and sciences for pharmacy degree
6/04	20 June 2004	Consideration of the uniformity of curriculum of pharmacy programmes
7/04	20 July 2004	Consideration of the groups of officers who will make evaluation visits to universities of India, Russia when approval for the visits is received. The removal of the need for a pass in the National Taiwan Public Examination as a criterion for registration with the Pharmacy Board of Malaysia. Consideration of the proposal to start a pharmacy program by the Multimedia University [MMU]
9/04	28 September 2004	Discussion on the competence requirements for members of the Evaluation Panel who undertake the evaluation of pharmacy programs Discussion of a complaint on the quality of graduates of a local university
10/04	20 October 2004	Discussion on the competence requirements for members of the Evaluation Panel who undertake the evaluation of pharmacy programs

 

ACCREDITATION OF PHARMACY PROGRAMMES

"Full Recognition" Evaluation Visit of the external pharmacy program of Universiti Sains Malaysia [USM] and University College Sedaya International [UCSI] on 29-30 March 2004

• The evaluation report to the Board recommended the full recognition of the program.
• The evaluation report recommended that UCSI yearly inform on the position of staffing together with the qualifications of the staff.

"Second Monitoring" Evaluation visit on pharmacy programme of the Islamic International University [IIUM/UIA] on 21 and 22 September 2004

• This "second monitoring" evaluation visit [to evaluate the development of the program on the aspect of academic staff, facilities, administration and students affairs] found the program satisfactory.

PHARMACY FORENSIC EXAMINATION

The Board held 3 examinations in 2004 on

• 8th - 9th January 2004 and 12th January 2004
• 12th April 2004
• 2nd November 2004

These examinations were simultaneously held at four different centres in 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.

Table 1: Forensic Examination 2004

(not inclusive of candidates from Universiti Sains Malaysia,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Malaya)

Table 2: Forensic Examination 1999 - 2004

(not inclusive of candidates from Universiti Sains Malaysia,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Malaya)

Graph 1: Percentage of passes in the Pharmacy Forensic Examination

REGISTRATION OF PHARMACIST, BODY CORPORATE AND PUPIL PHARMACIST

The number of pharmacists on the register in 2004 increased by about 14% compared to 2003.

Table 3: New Registration and Annual Retention For Pharmacists and Corporate Bodies

Local graduates who register in 2004:

Graduates from foreign universities who registered in 2004:

The total number of foreign graduates increased by 120 graduates in year 2004 compared to the 100 graduates from foreign universities who registered in year 2003. In year 2004, 138 graduates from British Universities registered with the Board whereas only 67 registered in year 2003.

Graduates from Twinning Programme:

For twinning programme, 30 students from IMU twinning with University of Strathclyde register this year. SIT twinning programme with University of South Australia will only register in 2005.

PUPIL PHARMACISTS FOR YEAR 2004

327 pupil pharmacist registered with the Board in year 2004 compared to an almost similar number of 329 in year 2003.

DISTRIBUTION OF REGISTERED PHARMACISTS THAT RENEWED THEIR ANNUAL CERTIFICATE IN YEAR 2004

3506 pharmacists applied and were issued their Annual Retention Certificate [ARC] in 2004.

Table 4: Distribution of Pharmacists according to States
[This data is from the ARC applications received and does not include the new pharmacists registered in 2004]

Graph 3. Distribution of Pharmacists by sector
[This data is from the ARC and does not include new pharmacists registered in 2004]

ETHNIC PROFILE OF REGISTERED PHARMACISTS IN 2004

Table 5: Ethnic Profile of Registered Pharmacists In 2004

Table 6: Ethnic profile according to states
[This data is only from the ARC and does not include new pharmacists registered in 2004]

"LETTER OF GOOD STANDING"

The Board issued 27 letters of good standing in 2004 to pharmacists who applied for them for the purpose of registration with the registration bodies in other countries.

[ Back to Top ]

OTHER ISSUES

THE ISSUING OF ARC

The delay in issuance of ARC has always been a problem for both the Board and pharmacists. In the year 2004, the issuance was improved by the bulk issuance of ARC to government servants. This bulk issuance was possible because government servants do not pay a fee for their ARC and therefore there was no delay in the issuance of receipts for payment and the checking of payments. However the early issuance of ARC to the private sector was hampered by the change in the regulations effective from 2nd September 2004 with the accompanying changes to the fees for registration and renewal.

APPROVAL ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPULSORY SERVICE

The Registration of Pharmacist Act 1951 was amended to allow the implementation of the compulsory service in the government sector for all pharmacists who wish to register with the Board. The amended act and regulations came into effect on the 2nd September 2004. With the compulsory service, pharmacists who wish to register with the Pharmacy Board of Malaysia are required to undergo 1 year training as provisionally registered pharmacists and work 3 years as fully registered pharmacists in the public service.

[ Back to Top ]

CONCLUSION

The Board saw changes to 2 members of the Board on expiry of their terms of office. It held 2 meetings in 2004 and among the issues, elected the chairman of the CPD Committee of the Board to prepare for the implementation of CPD for the profession. As in previous years, the year 2004 showed the majority of pharmacists working in the private sector. This scenario will change in the future with the implementation of the compulsory service on 2nd September 2004. The Pharmacy Forensic Examinations were conducted 3 times this year with the results showing a 2/3 pass rate. Efforts were made to hasten the issuance of ARC but the changes in the law with the accompanying changes in the fees instead slowed down the issuance as there were problems and confusion with the change over.

[ Back to Top ]