Pharmaceutical Society of Malawi (Phasom) president, Enock Foster on Saturday warned his members against stealing drugs from government hospitals, saying the law shall take its course to all culprits.

Foster was speaking in Lilongwe when he opened the Phasom annual general assembly which took place at Crossroads Hotel, saying the association is receiving various reports pointing fingers at his members to be behind drug theft syndicate in public hospitals.

"We need to discipline people that are involved in drug theft," he said.

Foster said: "If our members are involved in stealing medicine, he or she ceases to be our member. We have to work hand in hand with Pharmacy Medicines and Poisons Board that these people who are stealing medicines, be it from our society or somewhere, should face stiff punishment because what they are doing is medicine abuse. We are not only doing that, but also we will be part if the Ministry of Health."

The outgoing president bemoaned that some pharmaceutical practitioners are not registered members of their association and thus it was very difficult to discipline them.

He said that there are more than 500 qualified members but only few are officially registered.

Foster commended the introduction of Master of Pharmacy degree at the College of Medicine, saying this high qualification will help to strengthen pharmaceutical services in Malawi.

He said Phasom is geared to ensure that its members are conducting themselves in a professional manner all the time.

Foster said Phasom is currently a registered body under the laws of Malawi requirements and  that now they have regional hubs throughout the country.

Currently, dependency on funds collected from their members to provide better services is said to be their major challenges.