A pharmacist's busiest hour is the one after the clinics close, when prescriptions arrive faster than anyone can read them. Uganda's National Drug Policy and Authority Act does not care how busy the counter is. It sets out, in a few short sections, exactly what a prescription must contain before a Class A or Class B Group I drug leaves the shop, and what must happen to the paper afterwards. Here is what sections 20 to 23 say, in plain terms.
When a prescription is required
Section 20(1) is the rule: a pharmacist or licensed person shall not supply a Class A or Class B Group I drug unless it is under a prescription the supplier reasonably believes to be valid. Class A drugs are the narcotics listed in the First Schedule, Class B the controlled drugs in the Second Schedule. Class C drugs, the ones a licensed drug shop may stock, do not need a prescription under this section, although Class C Group II drugs still have to be recorded in the Classified Drugs Book.
The word "reasonably" matters. The Act does not ask the dispenser to prove a prescription is genuine; it asks for a reasonable belief that it is. That belief has to rest on the paper in front of you, which is why the next subsection matters so much.
The six tests in section 20(2)
A prescription is valid only if all of the following are true:
- It is in indelible writing, dated, and signed with the usual signature of a registered medical practitioner, dentist or veterinary surgeon.
- It states the name, qualification and address of the person signing it.
- It states the name and address of the patient, or, for a veterinary prescription, of the person in charge of the animal.
- If a dentist signed it, it bears the words "for dental treatment only"; if a veterinary surgeon signed it, "for animal treatment only".
- It indicates the total amount of the drug to be supplied and the dose, or the manner of application or use.
- It has not previously been fully dispensed.
A pencil prescription fails the first test. One with a signature but no address fails the second. One that names a drug but not a quantity fails the fifth. A counter checklist taped beside the till, listing these six points, is the cheapest compliance tool a pharmacy can buy.
Repeats and "fully dispensed"
Section 20(3) says a prescription is fully dispensed once the drug has been supplied once, unless the prescription clearly states the number of times it may be dispensed and the intervals between them. A repeat written as "x3 monthly" is therefore valid three times at monthly intervals; a repeat with no number is valid once. After the last supply the prescription is spent, and supplying against it again breaks section 20(1).
There are two exceptions in section 20(4): supply to a medical practitioner, dentist, veterinary surgeon, pharmacist or licensed pharmacy for onward dispensing or research, and supply from the dispensing department of an approved institution under regulations.
What the dispenser writes, and keeps
Section 21 is the part that trips up well-run pharmacies. Whenever a classified drug is supplied under a prescription, the person supplying it must write on the prescription, in indelible ink, the date of supply and the name and address of the supplier. If the prescription is now fully dispensed, the pharmacy retains it and keeps it on the premises where it was dispensed for two years, filed so that it is readily available for inspection.
Two years is a long time for a shop that dispenses dozens of prescriptions a day. The simplest filing method is one box per month, labelled with the month and year, with the oldest box going to secure destruction only when it is more than 24 months old. The sales system should hold a reference to the prescription so an inspector can trace a sale to its paper in minutes.
Two more duties
Section 22 adds that a pharmacist or licensed pharmacy shall not supply a Class A or B drug to a person who is not reasonably believed to be someone to whom the drug may properly be supplied. Section 23 says no one may supply a classified drug that does not conform to the prescription or order under which it is supplied: no silent substitutions of strength or quantity.
Putting it to work this week
- Print the six tests and fix them at eye level beside the dispensing bench.
- Agree a house rule on repeats: no number written, no repeat.
- Stamp every dispensed prescription with date, pharmacy name and address.
- Set up the monthly box system and a two-year destruction calendar.
- Record the prescription reference on the sale so the paper and the till agree.
The Act is not long, and these sections are among its clearest. Reading them once, with the team, is worth more than any poster.
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