The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Pharmacy Council is looking to strengthen the country’s import/export regulations “ as quickly as possible”, its chairman adding that while it was aiming to increase its inspectors, prospects for the position were limited.

The Council, in its New Year’s statement, said it was seeking to increase the number of inspectors to ensure all pharmacies were inspected in a timely manner in 2014.

Chairman Barbara Henderson explained: “Currently we have two inspectors. This has not been a major challenge, but we do realise that we would be able to work more efficiently and quickly if we increased the numbers, especially since we encourage our inspectors to inspect facilities in pairs.

“One of the challenges we face regarding inspectors is, according to the Pharmacy Act, that anyone selected must be a ‘public officer’ trained in pharmacy. This limits our choice of persons who can be hired for the position.”

The Bahamas Pharmacy Council also said it would continue to draft regulations and policies. “This is still a very new Council and there is much work to do,” said Ms Henderson.

“Currently, we are discussing what the priorities should be. We have all agreed, however, that in order to ensure quality products to the Bahamian public we would need to strengthen our import/export regulations as quickly as possible.

“Other priorities would also include procedures for everything we do - from our registration and licensing process to policies regarding pharmacy students and interns. Now that we have both a fully-qualified Registrar and a full-time qualified office administrator, we anticipate that with the help of the Government and the pharmacy community, we will be able to achieve many of our goals over the next three years.”

The Council said it plans to work towards a national examination for all pharmacist applicants, adding that it is putting together a plan to reduce waiting times and steps for registration and licensing, particularly for renewals, and plans to make the payment of fees easier through various banking alternatives and improving its Internet services “in order to offer more efficient service to registrants and to the general public”.

The Council said it was also formatting a plan to improve the financial management of its resources, and reduce spending where possible.

“We owe it to ourselves and to our country to properly manage all funds and be accountable for it,” it added.

The Council said it was concerned about office space and privacy, and is looking into the possibility of relocating its offices. “We are also in the process of putting together a task force to produce a Strategic Working Plan to follow over the next three years,” the Council said.