International Symposia were held to build a safety system of

OTC medicines in Korea

Safety system takes precedence rather than OTC medicines sales outside pharmacies

In Korea, there were two international symposia which mainly discussed safety of OTC (over-the-counter) medicines on 23rd August and 15th September, 2011. There were many of members of academia, non-government organizations, community pharmacists with national representatives and officials of healthcare.

The symposium, held by Korea Institute for Pharmaceutical Policy Affairs and Korean Pharmaceutical Association on 15th September, 2011, was focused on building a safety system of OTC medicines in Korea. In this symposium, panelists had checked about accessibility of pharmacies in Korea and discussed the problem of OTC medicines sales outside pharmacies.

Patricia Muñoz, a legal adviser of PGEU (Pharmaceutical Group of European Union) said that the best way to ensure the safety of patients in OTC medicines is that pharmacists in pharmacies supervise OTC medicines