Al-Khidmat to set up 200 pharmacies in Karachi to eliminate spurious medicines

Al-Khidmat will open over 200 pharmacies across Karachi to eliminate the menace of spurious and counterfeit medicines and provide genuine, quality drugs at subsidized rates to patients, Karachi Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) emir Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman announced on Saturday.

“At the moment, we have 20 pharmacies functioning in Karachi, but we are planning to establish a network of 200 pharmacies across the city to eliminate the menace of spurious and counterfeit medicines and provide genuine, quality medicines at subsidized rates to people,” he said while speaking at the launching ceremony of a ‘Bano Qabil Pharmacist’ programme in Karachi.

Around 600 pharmacy graduates from various public and private medical universities appeared in the aptitude test for the ‘Bano Qabil Pharmacist’ training programme launched by the Al-Khidmat Pharmacy Services. Over 1,000 pharmacists and final-year pharmacy students had registered themselves for the three-months training programme, compelling the organizers to close the registration process after 1,000 registrations due to an overwhelming response from the aspirants.

“The Bano Qabil Pharmacist training programme is aimed at equipping young pharmacy graduates with advanced clinical and communication skills, enabling them to provide enhanced patient care, optimize medication management, develop leadership qualities and serve as a resource pool for the community and contribute to better health outcomes,” Rehman said while speaking to the participants of the aptitude test.

He said Al-Khidmat started training of young students in different fields of information technology (IT) and at the moment around 25,000 youngsters were getting IT education and training at 35 training institutes in Karachi, adding that they were planning to provide skill-based education to Karachi’s youth to make them useful members of the society.

“We are also going to launch a career guidance programme for Karachi’s youngsters very soon to help them choose their careers after getting education as we want to create a knowledge-based society in Pakistan,” he said, adding that the training programme will enable young pharmacy graduates in getting required experience and training to serve the society in a better way.

On the occasion, he urged the Al-Khidmat Pharmacy Services to collaborate with other pharmacy chains, hospitals and organisations so that students who cleared the aptitude test could be provided training and employment opportunities at businesses other than Al-Khidmat’s pharmacies.

Director Al-Khdimat Pharmacy Services Syed Jamshed Ahmed said a trained and qualified pharmacist was immensely important in dispensing genuine medicines to the patients at a time when market was flooded with spurious, counterfeit and fake medicines.

“We need trained and qualified pharmacists at our clinical and hospital pharmacies to ensure that only genuine medicines in proper doses reach to patients as we are losing thousands of patients due to medication errors. This training programme will not only help pharmacy graduates in getting relevant experience in their field but it will also help the society at large,” he maintained.

Ahmed maintained that healthcare landscape was rapidly evolving and pharmacists needed to evolve with it. “The 3-month training programme for pharmacists in hospital and community settings is a strategic investment that will enhance patient care, improve medication management, and empower pharmacists to thrive in their evolving roles,” he added.