Pharmaceutical technologists threaten to down tools over new guidelines

Over 11,000 pharmaceutical technologists have threatened to down tools in protest against new guidelines that would bar them from practising in Level Three to six health facilities.

Under the new guidelines adopted by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, only practitioners with degree-level qualifications, will be allowed to administer medicines in the mentioned facilities, while diploma-level holders will manage dispensaries.

Kenya Pharmaceutical Association Chairman, Chitechi Amboka, termed the guidelines contained in the Good Pharmacy Practice Standards, discriminatory, saying the rules strip qualified diploma-holders of the right to handle essential medicines.

Amboka said pharmaceutical technologists constitute over 70 per cent of all healthcare practitioners and play a crucial role in the day-to-day running of healthcare operations.

He said the new draft guidelines, expected to take effect in January next year, risk causing a collapse of the healthcare system at a time when the government is implementing Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

“The new guidelines adopted by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board will bar over 11,000 of our members from handling medicines across 3,569 public facilities, retaining those functions for degree holders only,” said Amboka, stressing, “We hereby reject this in totality.”

Addressing the media in Naivasha, Amboka said the Association would hold a protest on Thursday to demand the withdrawal of the guidelines, and threatened to call on members to close their facilities until their demands are met.

He said the guidelines were gazetted before the Association reached a consensus with stakeholders in the sector, adding that it had already petitioned the Ministry of Health and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board without success.

Amboka said practitioners holding diploma-level qualifications are competent, approved and licensed by relevant authorities and should be allowed to practise pharmacy-related duties across all healthcare facilities in the country.

He urged the Board to instead focus on the growing concern over quacks practicing in the sector, who continue to endanger the health of Kenyans.

“We demand the immediate suspension of the new guidelines, to allow for a genuine, inclusive and consensus-driven review, and that all qualified pharmacists holding diploma-level qualifications be allowed to practise across all levels of facilities,” said Amboka.

For his part, Kenya National Union of Pharmaceutical Technologists Chair, Kenneth Omogi, said the Union would hold street demonstrations against the guidelines, noting they were inconsistent with established laws in the sector.

Omogi said the Union supported regulation of safe medicines, and that its members held the necessary qualifications and training and were licensed to practice by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board.

He said the guidelines, once effective in January, would deal a huge blow to the government’s Universal Health Coverage agenda, particularly regarding access to affordable care.

However, the Health docket Cabinet Secretary, in a presser, rejected the claims by the lobby, noting that no practitioners will be barred from pharmacy roles, once they get the necessary qualifications and are licensed.

Duale said the new standards would distinguish practitioners at various levels of health facilities from those tasked with a superintendent, who bears a great role in overall professional and regulatory responsibility at the facility.

The CS said the new standards were based on competency-based measures and would strengthen illegal and unethical practices that continue to endanger patients’ safety.

Duale said the new standards were developed in the past five years and the Ministry had consulted key stakeholders during the development and technical review of the new guidelines.

He said the Pharmacy and Poisons Board were open to constructive engagement and would provide implementation support before the January 2027 timeline, when they would take effect.

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