The Pharmacy Council of Thailand has warned all drug stores to have at least one pharmacist on duty starting from October 1 or their licences would be revoked.
Assoc Prof Kitti Pithaknitinan, president of the council, said on Thursday that the council had issued a circular to all drug stores.
Kitti said the warning was issued because the leniency for drug stores to have pharmacists on standby for at least three hours a day would expire at the end of this month.
The Pharmacy Act enacted in 1967 required all pharmacies to have at least one pharmacist on duty. But a legal amendment was issued in 1979 granting leniency that allowed the pharmacies to have one pharmacist on standby for three hours.
A pharmacy can operate with a registered pharmacist in the shop. If a drug store does not have a pharmacist on standby while it is open, the pharmacist in charge of the shop will see his or her pharmacist licence suspended or revoked by the council, Kitti said. The revocation will automatically cancel drug sale licence of the drug store, he explained.
The law also requires all pharmacies to carry the name tags of pharmacists on standby at all times, Kitti added.
THE NATION