Health sector in rural Tanzania is challenging as there are not enough pharmacists, said Registrar of the Pharmacy Council of the country Elizabeth Shekalaghe while speaking to media people at a one-day seminar in Dar es Salaam.
She added people in the rural areas tend taking drugs without any kind of medical prescription as about 90 percent of pharamacists are located in towns and cities like Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Mbeya and Arusha.
Data reveals the country has 1,863 pharmacists. One thousand of it are located in financial capital Dar es Salaam and the remaining in Mwanza, Arusha, Mbeya and Kilimanjaro.
It is learned from current data that regions like Katavi, Mtwara, Lindi and Kigoma might not even have more than five pharmacists each. This shows uneven distribution of pharmacists in rural Tanzania compared to urban areas.
Shekalaghe further added that there are 652 pharmaceutical assistants, 2,303 technicians and 1,683 pharmacy shops in Tanzania.
She said, “Especially in rural areas, everyone is a pharmacist of his own. People take drugs out of pharmacists counseling as a result they end up into either overdose themselves or taking drugs that are not meant to treat their illnesses, thus, they take poison instead of drugs.”
The registrar further said in 2003 there were just 400 pharmacists and data reveals the increase is at a good pace since then.
Currently there are four universities offer bachelor’s degree in pharmacy, twenty colleges offering diploma course in the field and 28 other facilities offering short pharmaceutical course of about one year.
