Islamabad: In a long overdue move to update Pakistan’s decades old pharmacy law, the federal health ministry has constituted a high-powered committee to propose amendments to the Pharmacy Act, 1967, but senior pharmacists warn that the exercise must not be used to tighten official control over the Pharmacy Council of Pakistan.
While welcoming the decision to modernise a law framed nearly six decades ago, pharmacists said pharmacy education and practice in Pakistan had changed fundamentally. When the Act was promulgated in 1967, only three universities, Punjab University, Karachi University and Dhaka University, offered pharmacy education.
Today, more than 230 public and private institutions are producing thousands of Pharm D graduates annually, creating new regulatory, accreditation and quality assurance challenges.
Currently, around 70,000 pharmacists are registered in Pakistan, offering services across multiple domains of the healthcare system, including drug manufacturing, quality control, supply chain management, hospital pharmacy, clinical pharmacy, pharmacovigilance, drug regulation and other allied fields.
According to an official notification issued by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, the committee has been tasked with reviewing the Pharmacy Act, 1967 and proposing amendments to align pharmacy regulation, education and professional practice with current healthcare needs, constitutional requirements and international best practices.
The committee would be chaired by the Special Secretary of the health ministry and includes representation from the Pakistan Pharmacy Council, academia, professional bodies, DRAP and provincial authorities.
The committee’s mandate includes reviewing the regulatory framework and governance of the Pharmacy Council of Pakistan, examining federal provincial roles in pharmacy regulation in light of the 18th Amendment, updating standards for pharmacy education and accreditation, and revisiting the scope of pharmacy practice across community, hospital, clinical, industrial and regulatory settings.
It will also propose reforms to registration and licensing systems, inspection and enforcement mechanisms, and requirements for continuing professional development. The panel is expected to submit its report within three months.
Senior pharmacists said several provisions in the existing law no longer reflected the realities of modern pharmacy practice. They pointed to vague definitions, limited recognition of clinical and community pharmacy roles, and weak provisions for professional development and quality assurance.
“Pharmacy has evolved into a patient facing clinical profession globally, but our legal framework still treats pharmacists largely as dispensers,” said a senior academic pharmacist, adding that the law needed to better define pharmacists’ roles in patient counselling, medication safety, antimicrobial stewardship and hospital care.
They also called for mandatory continuing professional development to ensure pharmacists remain up to date with new therapies and safety standards, regular review of curricula, and the hiring of independent inspectors to oversee training institutions and professional practice to reduce conflicts of interest and improve credibility.
However, concerns have been raised within the profession that the reform process could be used to erode the autonomy of the Pharmacy Council of Pakistan.
Pharmacists cited past disputes around the governance of other professional councils, warning that increased ministerial influence over appointments and decision making could weaken professional regulation.
“There is a fear that under the cover of reform, the council’s independence could be diluted,” said a former office bearer of a pharmacists’ association.
Pharmacists urged that any changes to the council’s governance should strengthen its autonomy, with members nominated through transparent, merit based processes and clear safeguards against undue interference.
They also called for a clearer separation between policy oversight by the ministry and professional regulation by the council, arguing that regulatory capture would undermine public trust and professional standards.
The notification states that the committee may co opt experts and consult stakeholders, raising expectations within the profession that pharmacists, educators and provincial authorities will be meaningfully involved in shaping long awaited legal reforms.
Ends