7 new Rules from the Ministry of Health to inject patients inside pharmacies

Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Health, issued new decisions regarding regulating the process of allowing pharmacists to administer medicine by intramuscular or subcutaneous injection to patients, after reviewing the stipulated controls.

During the next few days, advanced training courses will be organized for members of the medical team in all governorates of the Republic, and they will be granted the necessary certificates and licenses to ensure patient safety.

Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population, said that the decision came after coordination and consultation between the ministry and the concerned authorities represented in the (House of Representatives Health Committee, the Doctors Syndicate, the Pharmacists Syndicate, and the Egyptian Medicines Authority), in a way that guarantees the rights of pharmacists and facilitates the treatment of patients.

The new Ministry of Health controls for injecting patients inside pharmacies:

1. The pharmacist must have completed a training course from the hospitals of the Ministry of Health or its affiliated agencies.

2. Presence of a medical prescription in which the attending physician stipulated that the patient be injected with a specific treatment in order to cure him.

3. Providing the pharmacist with the appropriate qualification is as important as having a legal framework regulating all medical procedures.

4. The health and safety of the Egyptian patient is a top priority for the Ministry of Health.

5. Do not give injections to patients unless there is a prescription from the attending physician that requires injecting the patient with the required medication.

6. The pharmacist's passing of training courses through the Ministry of Health or the bodies specified by the Ministry.

7. Ensure the availability of anti-allergic drugs, and give patients only intramuscular and subcutaneous injections.

For his part, Dr. Ashraf Hatem, Chairman of the Health Committee in the House of Representatives, praised the quick intervention by the Ministry of Health to resolve the crisis, stressing that these legislations would preserve the medical team and the lives of patients, which include setting regulatory controls to allow qualified pharmacists to give injections to patients.