Private pharmacy sector saturated

Places for pharmacists in private pharmacies are saturated and the situation will be exacerbated when a new batch graduates from the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, later this year.

President of the Council of the Pharmacy Board of TT Andrew Rahaman, speaking yesterday at a Joint Select Committee to look at regulating pharmacies, said TT was not getting a return on its investment when Government has paid to educate the pharmacists for years, and they then migrate when they cannot get jobs here.

He said over the last three-four years he has been inundated with requests for employment. This, he said, was the first time since he became president of the council 16 years ago.

Committee member Jennifer Baptiste-Primus suggested there was a need for a national assessment to determine how many pharmacists were required to service the country. She added that both the Labour Ministry and the council should ensure that nationals were not being left behind when non-nationals were given positions in pharmacies.