2020 Volume 39 Issue 2 Pages 79-86
China’s pharmaceutical market, the second largest in the world, has recently attracted the attention of many countries. However, Chinese pharmacists’ role in pharmacies and their legal responsibilities in China are not well known in Japan. Clarifying Chinese pharmacists’ legal obligations and identifying their specific roles may contribute to improvements in pharmacy operations in Japan. To investigate the Chinese legal system as it pertains to pharmacists in China, we used China’s official government website. In 2019, there were 516,003 pharmacists in China. As of 2020, the Chinese Pharmacist Act is still in the preparatory stage; however, the Administrative Regulation, which describes the system for licensing pharmacists, has been established. Article 1 of the Administrative Regulation states that Chinese pharmacists are responsible for the quality control of medications, as well as medication consultations. Another regulation, Good Supply Practice, specifies that the lot numbers of medications should be provided to patients at the time of dispensing. We believe that this is particularly beneficial to pharmaceutical traceability. Since 2017, the circulation of counterfeit HARVONI® combination tablets has been a problem in Japan. To secure and improve the quality of medications in Japan, we believe that it is important for pharmacists to understand that they are “responsible for the quality of the medicine” and to promote discussions on pharmacy quality control tasks.
