Establishment of Natural and Traditional Pharmacy; An Improvement in Customer Service

Referring to the macro economy on health, the Fifth Development plan as well as the Medicinal plants and Traditional Medicine National Document, Chief of Office for Natural, Traditional Products and Supplement Supervision of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration said, “Ministry of Health and Medical Education is obligated to prepare the ground for the development of traditional and natural-based products.”
Concerning the establishment of natural and traditional pharmacies, which is recently passed by the parliament and communicated to the relevant organizations, in an interview with a health reporter of Fars News Agency, Chief of Office for Natural, Traditional Products and Supplement Supervision of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration, Amir Hossein Jamshidi said, “Natural and Traditional pharmacies have been formed to improve service in terms of traditional and natural-based products. At the moment, there are a large number of traditional and natural-based products as well as herbal packaging that have been given licenses by Iran’s Food and Drug Administration.”
He added, “In recent years, the issue of traditional medicine has also been taken to universities and we have graduates in the field of traditional medicine and traditional pharmacy who are currently working.”
Jamshidi went on to say, “According to the macro economy on health, which was communicated by the Supreme Leader, the Fifth Development plan as well as the Medicinal plants and Traditional Medicine National Document, which is passed by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, and other legal issues, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education is obligated to lay the foundation for the traditional and natural-based products’ development, and the approach of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration and Ministry of Health and Medical Education is promotional and therefore, we need to make these products more accessible, encourage people to use them and substitute chemical medicine with them.”
He continued to say, “It is crucial to say, the increase in the consumption of these products is not an appropriate option, and when an increase in consumption is mentioned we are referring to an increase which is correct and logical, that is to say we are encouraging a logical prescription of traditional and natural-based products, in other words, when these products should be used and when they should not.”
Chief of Office for Natural, Traditional Products and Supplement Supervision of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration indicated, “There needs to be a background study and know-how in terms of the prescription of these products, which means someone who prescribes them must be qualified to do so.”
Jamshidi added, “There is a problem regarding these products and that is some of them did not exist in the university books and later they were included.”
He said, “We have some experts whose job is directly to do with natural-based products, like pharmacognosists, traditional pharmacists who have complete mastery over traditional medicine and pharmacists who have taken courses to learn about these products. These people can provide the consumers with correct and comprehensive information. Aligned with the aforementioned, there has been a by-law suggested, entitling ‘Natural and Traditional Pharmacies’.”
Chief of Office for Natural, Traditional Products and Supplement Supervision of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration noted, “Some offenses take place in a lot of herbal shops, and since herbal shops are not under the supervision of Ministry of Health and Medical Education, but they work under the supervision of guilds, they are not confronted for their offenses as seriously as we wish.”
He further noted, “We believe that the selling of traditional and natural-based products in herbal shops are illegal and that it should be stopped.”
He indicated, “If we have several natural and traditional pharmacies and that we are assured that those willing to purchase these products will have good consultations and are provided with suitable information to get the necessary products, then we have taken a major step forward. Also, as you are well aware, these natural and traditional products are sold in ordinary pharmacies, too.”
Jamshidi said, “In order to establish these natural and traditional pharmacies, one must be a pharmacist who has taken the necessary courses to be able to provide better consultations.”
“They have made a great effort to write a proper by-law for the establishment of these pharmacies, and a lot have been taken in to consideration to provide better service to the people.” He added, “For instance, in this by-law, the founder of the natural pharmacy and the technician should be the same person, which means we can not have a second person in charge. That is to say, the person who has the required knowledge and is qualified must be present at the pharmacy and provide services, this differs from the ordinary pharmacies. Therefore, this matter is considered an advantage for these pharmacies when a person with complete mastery over their work is the founder and technician of the pharmacy and present at all times, and in front of this person service can be done. All these are clearly stated in the by-law.”
Jamshidi said, “The establishment of natural and traditional pharmacies is based on the applicants, and those who have all the conditions included in the by-law, can apply and licenses will be issued after the review of their requests.”
Regarding the opening of these pharmacies, he said, “The criteria for the establishment of these pharmacies should be communicated within a maximum of two months.”
Chief of Office for Natural, Traditional Products and Supplement Supervision of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration continued to say, “Generally speaking, we can say these pharmacies will only deal with natural and traditional products as well as herbal packaging.”
Jamshidi noted, “As it is clear by its name, when we define a natural-based product, we mean a product that has taken its license from Iran’s Food and Drug Administration under the name natural-based product. Therefore, when we consider this group of products, those chemical medicines in the official list of Iran’s pharmacies, biologic medicines, supplements and purified chemical products such as atropine, colchicine and digoxin are not included in the category of natural-based products, and it has been stated that chemical medicines are not to be sold in these places.”
“The consumption of traditional and natural-based products are on the rise and the more we have culturalization, enlightenment and expertise in this regard, the more other pharmacies can benefit from people’s awareness.”
Chief of Office for Natural, Traditional Products and Supplement Supervision of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration said, “In most of the existing pharmacies, we see that few natural-based products are on sale and it is their priority to sell chemical medicines.”
“Natural and traditional pharmacies are centered around traditional and natural-based products and herbal packaging and they are supplied in clean and safe packages.”
“It is of great importance to culturalize people in this regard. We should provide true responses to people’s requests. Since people need these products and the use of these products exists in their culture and is on the rise worldwide, people need to receive appropriate consultation as well as correct information.”
Chief of Office for Natural, Traditional Products and Supplement Supervision of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration continued to say, “Most of the experts in this field, believe that Iran has the capacity to increase the use of such products, since in the developed countries, people consume these products more. This is not only what we believe in Iran’s Food and Drug Administration but it is the opinion of a lot of experienced experts of this field.”
Jamshidi said, “It has been approved by the Traditional Medicine Council to establish these pharmacies. They have also asked Iran’s Food and Drug Administration to provide them with opinions and we have done so, and a lot of our ideas have been included. What it is, is that all the opinions of the professionals of this field have been gathered collectively.”
He said, “These pharmacies are established by founders who are also technicians and there is no such thing as ‘chain stores’ in these cases. This is in compliance with the by-law, therefore, since it is not included in the by-law, we do not have chain stores for these pharmacies.”
Regarding the pharmacists approach and viewpoint on this plan, Chief of Office for Natural, Traditional Products and Supplement Supervision of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration said, “Like any other issue, this subject too, has some people who are in favor of it and some who are against it. Those who have always been concerned about this matter, believe these products need to be addressed with special care and they approved this plan.”
Jamshidi said, “Those who were against it were mostly pharmacy owners and not pharmacists. Basically, Office for Natural, Traditional Products and Supplement Supervision of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration must take in to consideration what is beneficial to all the public and not just a special group of people. The priority of all our plans and projects are the public in general and wherever we stand and whatever position we have, we must proceed with whatever that is to the benefit of people and their health. People have the right to be provided with sufficient information, to have easy access to traditional and natural-based products and to have complete information about the products that they have paid for.”
Chief of Office for Natural, Traditional Products and Supplement Supervision of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration concluded, “Unfortunately, there are some people who do not like serious considerations. All the speeches and everyone’s interests must be taken in to account. It is important to be a good manager and think about the public’s well-being and if we want to be better managers, we are to consider not only the public’s benefits but also the welfare of the groups involved. I personally believe, this matter is beneficial to pharmacists and can provide a large number of them with job opportunities, at the same time, it will not cause any threats to the existing pharmacies.”
Fars News Agency