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In the ongoing pharmacy council election in Tamil Nadu, the strongest panel led by Dr. R Sivakumar, principal of Nanda College of Pharmacy at Erode, has told Pharmabiz that if his panel wins the election, they will implement an insurance coverage scheme for all the registered pharmacists in the state.
For a minimum of two lakh rupees insured amount, the council will remit the premium for the pharmacists. Once their panel comes to power, they will reach an agreement with some insurance companies to implement the scheme. He said this is the first time the pharmacists in Tamil Nadu are getting insured with claims for reimbursement of treatments. This will benefit more than one lakh pharmacists and their family members.
“The enrolment of pharmacists to the insurance scheme will begin as soon as our panel comes to power. We hope that about one lakh pharmacists in Tamil Nadu can avail the benefit of the insurance coverage. These pharmacists need to renew their registration on time every year. Apart from the pharmacists, their family members will also come under the scheme”, he told Pharmabiz.
Talking to Pharmabiz, Dr. Sivakumar said there is one more college professor in his panel, two regulators and two pharmacists-cum-chemists.
Dr. Deattu from Madras College of Pharmacy attached to the Madras Medical College, Dr R Murali Krishan, drug inspector in Chennai, retired ADC Dr A Revikumar, chemist Nagendra Prasad and chemist R Krishnan are the other candidates in his panel which is unnamed. There are six panels contesting for the election this time under particular banners.
As regards his future plan, Dr. Sivakumar said if his panel wins, the new council will revamp the entire operations of the pharmacy council and find solutions for the problems of the staff there. There are issues connected with registration, renewal and online services. The delay in registering the certificates will be reduced and the process of registration will be completed in three days. As regards, renewal of certificates, it will be done in 24 hours.
The council will hold training programmes for all working pharmacists including the hospital pharmacists in the government sector. All registered pharmacists have to mandatorily attend the training programmes, unless their certificates will not be renewed. Similarly, the community pharmacists will be given a training programme every six months. This will be made compulsory for all the medical store operators. Presence of pharmacists will be made compulsory for the complete working hours. Without the prescription of doctors, no shop will be permitted to sell any scheduled drug.
Now the Pharm D programme has been started in the Annamalai University which is under the state government. However, TN SPC will take initiative to introduce the doctoral pharmacy programme in all the pharmacy colleges including the two government institutions. Clinical pharmacy will be introduced in all the major hospitals so as to create opportunities for pharmacy graduates.
The state pharmacy council consists of 15 members, out of which six members are elected from registered pharmacists, five members are nominated by the government, three members are ex-officio members such as drug controller (DC), director of medical education (DME) and director of medical services (DMS). In addition to this, there will be one member from the state medical council totalling 15.
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