One pharmacist to 2,000 people by 2017, says WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) standard is to achieve a ratio of one pharmacist to 2,000 people in 2017.

In Malaysia, the total number of registered pharmacists is 7,298 for the past 50 years.

This gives a ratio of one pharmacist to 3,878, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said when he officiated the name of the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Science at Monash University Sunway Campus in Bandar Sunway recently.

Recognising the dearth of pharmacists in the country, the school also launched its pharmacy programme, its third course to be introduced after Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery as well as Bachelor of Psychological Science.

Interestingly, on the job scene in Japan, as business confidence in the first quarter of this year improve, Robert Walters Japan managing director David Swan observed that several instances of  Japanese businesses, particularly the financial and pharmaceutical sectors are hiring bilingual Japanese and foreign professionals to internationalise their domestic operations and assist with their overseas expansion.

"This is a new phenomena and one that I'll expect we will see more in future."