The Ministry of Health said specialized teams from the ministry are working to implement the law without prejudice on all medical and specialized centers, hospitals and pharmacies in the private medical sector, to ensure they follow the regulations with a view to tighten control over drugs and strengthening concepts of maintaining the efficacy, safety and quality of medicine, especially in pharmacies.
Health sources told a local Arabic daily that the ministry organizes continuous campaigns against pharmacies and food supplement companies to prevent violations and punish those who do not abide by the ministry instructions.
The sources added, in some cases the licenses are withdraw and the owners referred to the Public Prosecution, as part of the Ministry of Health’s efforts to regulate the work of pharmacies.
The sources indicated that Minister Khaled Al-Saeed has finally stopped considering applications for granting licenses to new pharmacies in the private medical sector, and requests to grant licenses to practice the profession of pharmacy for non-Kuwaitis, until the completion of the study in this regard.
The sources added the issuing of licenses and management is limited to the Kuwaiti pharmacist who is licensed to practice the profession, and who is granted a license to open a pharmacy.
The sourced indicated that there are violations that are monitored from time to time in private sector pharmacies, including those related to giving medicines without prescriptions, or the presence of smuggled and unregistered medicines, or even expired drugs, noting that the doors of the ministry are open to Kuwaiti pharmacists and other staff — medical, technical and nursing, to listen to any complaints or suggestions that would organize work in pharmacies or others.
