KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 ― The Malaysian Pharmacists Society (MPS) is urging the government to provide a blanket travel approval to all healthcare professionals after numerous complaints from pharmacists and its area committee have come to light.
MPS president Amrahi Buang said that these complaints arose as pharmacists have now been required to apply for travel approval letters from the International Trade and Industry’s Covid-19 Intelligent Management System (CIMS) to travel to work.
“Pharmacists have been steadfast in our service to the nation and its people to keep the pandemic at bay. Please help us keep this vital service open instead of tying our hands with red tape,” he said in a statement.
Amrahi then went on to question this letter as the community pharmacy workforce are front-liners who see patients daily and remained open to serve the public for their various health needs ever since the first movement control order (MCO) was first declared in March 2020.
“Community pharmacies are governed under the Registration of Pharmacy Act (Act 371) and the Poisons Act 1952 (Act 366) governed by the Ministry of Health and did not need CIMS/MITI approval letters prior to this latest requirement,” he said.
He then shared complaints that the organisation has received from pharmacists across the country, ranging from being unable to login into CIMS to harassment from authorities demanding the letter from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti).
“Pharmacists in Penang have shared that many are not able to print the required approval as they were unable to login into the system despite trying persistently numerous times.
“Meanwhile, Johor pharmacists have also shared claims that authorities are coming to their premises, harassing the pharmacists and demanding for the MITI letter to be able to operate. They are also facing problems such as the system showing error and not being able to populate the required data.
“Similar complaints were received from pharmacists in Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Terengganu, Pahang, Kedah and Perlis,” he said.
He said the recent announcement by the police who said that they will accept any letters from any ministry only increased confusion among its community.
“However, this does not solve the issue of how to obtain the said documents as the Ministry of Health is not issuing any letters for community pharmacists.
“If PDRM requires documentation, they should allow the private sector healthcare workforce to get their company letters signed at the nearest police station to show at roadblocks,” he said.
