Kibaki asked to return Bill for amending

Pharmacists have requested President Kibaki to return the Veterinary Surgeons and Para-Professionals Bill, 2010, to Parliament for amendment.Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya (PSK) chairman Paul Mwaniki said there was need to amend the Bill before it is signed into law.“One of the articles that should be changed is that which calls for the establishment of a veterinary medicines directorate to regulate the manufacture, importation, exportation, registration, distribution, prescription and dispensing of veterinary medicine and poisons,” Dr Mwaniki said.Speaking during the society’s annual conference in Mombasa, the chairman said the article would allow non-professionals to enter the industry, negatively affecting quality of veterinary pharmaceutical products.“The veterinary surgeons and pharmacists have different jobs to perform and by incorporating them, it will affect the distribution of quality drugs,” he said.If passed, the Bill will repeal and replace the Veterinary Surgeons Act, which regulates the practice of veterinary medicine and surgery, and set up a mechanism for the regulation of activities of veterinary surgeons and veterinary para-professionals.