Dubai: Following a UAE Cabinet decision, the Dubai Health Care City (DHCC) will now solely be in charge of issuing and renewing licences to pharmacies and pharmacists within its campus and also conduct inspections and issue violations, a responsibility it jointly shared with the Ministry of Health earlier.
The new order will be implemented with retrospective effect from November 1, 2015, affecting the existing 15 pharmacies and 100 pharmacists in the freezone.
Starting December 1, 2015, new pharmacies and pharmacists will be required to register with DHCC authority and its governing body.
“The decision will only strengthen our governance and improve our standards. At an implementation level, advances of such nature have efficiency advantages. At a strategic level, they unify our approach in all aspects of regulation,” said Dr Raja Al Gurg, Vice-Chairperson and Executive Director of DHCC.
She also added that this would help the DHCC work towards achieving the the seven-year goals laid out in the UAE Vision 2021 document about the country’s national health agenda.
Focussing on the need for excellence, Dr Ramadan Alblooshi, Managing Director of the DHCC- Regulatory said: “Apart from issuing licences, we will have a record of Continued Professional Development (CPD) activities. To renew licenses, all pharmacy practitioners must demonstrate a minimum 30 CPD credit points.”
“We are putting considerable efforts to ensure that the knowledge and skills of healthcare professionals including pharmacists in Dubai Healthcare City are maintained,” he added.
To support CPD activity within its pharmaceutical community, the health care authority will conduct workshops throughout November. The Cabinet decision will, however, not apply to pharmaceutical companies and their corporate offices.
