According to Dr. Selaima Lalabalavu, Director of Hospital and Clinical Services of the MOH, 70 percent of the countries in the Pacific already have National Medicine Policies, whereas Palau is just developing its own medicine policies.
“It is so important for us to develop these policies because there is a very little regulation that helps us operate the pharmaceutical dispensary in the country,” Lalabalavu said in an interview.
World Health Organization Consultant Truls Eriksen was on hand to discuss the concept of National Medicine Policy to the participants of the workshop, which were both from the government and private sectors.
Lalabalavu said that a couple of years ago, the International Narcotics Control Board announced that Palau was the second highest user of narcotics in the world. “That is not good information for us; so we are looking into it right now.”
Lalabalavu said that there are medications that should be sold and dispensed only by prescriptions, but there are some shops in Palau that are selling them without the doctors’ prescriptions.
“And people know that they can go there and buy one capsule,” Lalabalavu said. “This is a very dangerous practice. They can actually die from it.” She said one medicine that is commonly abused is antibiotics.
“We have a legislation that allows us to go the store and check the medications that they are selling and take them out if they are not appropriate,” Lalabalavu said.
The MOH is also working with the Attorney General’s Office to address these issues.
According to Lalabalavu, the MOH is encouraging the public to only take medications and antibiotics with prescriptions for their safety. “There is such a thing as antibiotics resistance,” she said.
They are also asking the public not to share their prescriptions to their family members. “Medications like narcotics and strong pain killers can be addictive.”
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