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It is the mission of the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) to make the pharmacist an important member of the ‘healthcare team’ and the Council will work for it by fully abiding by the laws of the country, said Dr B Suresh, president of the PCI.
The academic training from an approved institution and the registration with a state pharmacy council are the basic requirements needed for a pharmacy professional. PCI will not stand for any compromise on these fundamental principles because the services of the pharmacists are for the society.
The PCI president was responding to queries from Pharmabiz in the wake of reports that a short term training course will be launched by government of India for unqualified medical store employees to equate them with pharmacy professionals.
“It cannot be denied that the health of the members of the society is of vital importance. With the industrial and technological development, health hazards have gained new and serious dimensions. To save citizens from these hazards, very efficient and suitable medical facilities are required which include the selling of medicines with appropriate knowledge about medicines and in cautious manner. The age old practice of selling and consuming medicines without much care cannot now be followed and has rightly been given up”, he opined.
According to him, services of qualified persons are not only for the retail sale of the medicines in proper and just manner, but it will also work as a safety-check against unauthorized sale of medicines for purposes other than treatment. It is well known to everybody that a large number of medicines are now being used for purposes of intoxication. If a qualified person is present in the shop at the time of sale, it may provide a check against such improper use of the medicines. The supply of medicines against a prescription essentially requires certain skill for correct interpretation. Only qualified pharmacy professionals can do it, he pointed out.
Going deep into the subject side of the pharmacy course, Dr Suresh said it is stated that frequently certain Latin terms are used in the prescriptions detailing about drugs and food items which are only possible to follow by a qualified person. Such kind of job cannot be left open to be performed by an unqualified person who has not undergone an approved course of study. He said with these factors remain the same, the PCI cannot support the proposal for a refresher course in place of the pharmacy courses.
Stressing the need for academic courses for supporting the profession of pharmacy, he further said, D.Pharm, B.Pharm and Pharm.D courses are public health oriented courses. Over the past decades, the role of pharmacist has evolved and shifted beyond merely dispensing of medicines to provider of patient care. Now the role of the pharmacists is to ensure that patient’s drug therapy is appropriately indicated, the most effective available, the safest possible and convenient for the patient.
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