After a long “stand-by”, the Minister of Health, Khalid Ait Taleb, finally looks at Bill 98.18 relating to the National Order of Pharmacists, which will have the mission of formulating the complaints of professionals in the sector and applying drug policy. That said, professionals in the sector believe that the PL must still be enriched by several inevitable points, in particular the economic aspect. Point.
The Ministry of Health has adopted a new “participatory” approach for the development of Bill 98.18 relating to the National Order of Pharmacists, which has been slow to emerge since 2018, by integrating the various stakeholders in this dossier. Khalid Ait Taleb informed the House of Representatives Committee on Social Sectors.
Indeed, the Minister indicated that a Commission had been created, in charge of studying the preliminary draft law. It includes the president of the National Council of Pharmacists, Hamza Guedira, the presidents of the regional councils of pharmacists of the North and the South, the Council of pharmacists biologists, the Council of manufacturers and distributors of pharmacists, the Inspectorate of the Royal Armed Forces, and representatives of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection.
Since its creation, the committee has held several meetings, during which it deliberated and examined the bill, and resulted in a report published on May 24, 2018, said the minister who stressed that the National Council of Order of Pharmacists had received a letter on October 1, 2018, to express its opinion on the bill after examining its articles on the basis of the committee’s report.
On December 7, 2018, the CNOP delivered its observations and recommendations to the Ministry of Health, which took them into account in the final version of the bill, said the minister, who recalled that this PL intervenes in view of the Dahir on Law No. 1.75.453 of December 17, 1976, which no longer responds to the changes and transformations experienced by the profession of pharmacist since 1976 at the present time.
These changes, represented by the Minister of Health and Social Protection, are in particular the significant increase in the number of pharmacists practicing the profession, whether in the public and private sectors, as well as the legal framework of the profession through Law No. 17.04 which serves as the Medicines and Pharmacy Code and the new functions assigned to pharmacists in the health system.
What pharmacists think
Having emerged at the time of the former Minister of Health Anass Doukkali following the initiative of the National Council of the Order of Pharmacists of Morocco (CNOP), the latter had called for a new law governing advice, since the existing law dates back to 1976, when there were only 400 or 500 pharmacists in Morocco, whereas today their number exceeds 14,000 (dispensing pharmacists, wholesalers, biologists, etc.).
“We worked on our proposal in a tripartite commission with the general secretariat of the government, the Ministry of Health and the National Council. We have relied on the laws of France, Quebec, Tunisia and other countries to try to enrich the bill and come out with something good, ”Hamza Guedira, President of CNOP, told MoroccoLatestNews.
Thus, the National Council had worked on approximately 50 to 60% of the bill before the Commission appointed by the former minister, Doukkali ceases to meet, our interlocutor confides. There was subsequently the cabinet reshuffle which saw the arrival of Khalid Ait Taleb at the head of the ministry, and the replacement of Jamal Taoufik, at the head of the Department of medicine and pharmacy (DMP) at the ministry by Bouchra Meddah.
Several changes have therefore taken place that have put this bill on “stand-by”. Today, the government has prepared a bill which in its entirety “is not that bad” says Dr Guedira. But several changes are desirable, he says.
“The bill should be enriched on certain points, in particular the creation of a support institution which brings together pharmacists appointed by the administration. There is also unanimity in the profession that we do not have this kind of paternalism or tutelage. We have enough potential within the profession which can handle things very well, ”says the pharmacist.
In the context of advanced regionalization, the president of the CNOP considers that it would be desirable for the Council to have “twelve regions to manage, like the system adopted by the Moroccan state, in addition to the transfer of the overwhelming majority of prorogatives to the regions, and that we keep the National Council only for strategic questions ”. It would also be desirable, according to our interlocutor, for training to be an obligation for professionals in the sector.
On a proposal from the National Council, it was recommended that “the Court of Auditors intervene to audit the councils” confided to us Dr Guedira, since “the Councils will be open to receiving state subsidies to set up all the structures” , he said.
Finally, the President of the National Council believes that the bill must also look at the economic side, believes Dr Guedira. “It’s excellent that we work on the organizational level, but for me the organizational and linked to the economy. And today, the profession needs an upgrade. It is indisputable that economically, there is a lot of damage especially with this pandemic. And the government will have to think about all that, ”concludes the president of the CNOP.
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