Thailand's Chemists Get A Poor Gpp Rating

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Thailand's chemists get a poor GPP rating

Thu, June 28, 2007 : Last updated 0:21 am (Thai local time)

Of more than 10,000 pharmacies in Thailand, just 136 meet the World Health Organi-sation's Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) standard.

Food and Drug Administra-tion (FDA) secretary-general Siriwat Tiptaradol yesterday disclosed this information at a seminar on GPP in Southeast Asia. The event attracted about 80 pharmacists from more than 15 countries including Australia, Japan, India and South Korea.

"GPP standard is recognised as a means to protect consumers," Siriwat said.

He said the International Pharmaceutical Federation and other relevant organisations were now formulating good-practice guidelines for pharmacies to help them achieve GPP standard.

"This will ensure that the pharmacies are of good quality and pharmacists are able to dispense medicines in line with international standards," he said.

Siriwat said representatives from an evaluation committee would be sent to inspect each pharmacy. He said the committee members would comprise representatives from the FDA and the Pharmacy Council.

He said pharmacies that meet the GPP standard would be allowed to dispense medicines for some chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes.