PHARMACY PROFESSION IN INDIA

Pharmacists in India are Over Qualified and Under Utilised. With the availability of more than thousand drug combinations in India, it is difficult to find whether a drug is spurious, duplicate or adulterated. Hence only a pharmacist can take up the challenge of providing better healthcare.

There have been many lacunas for development of pharmacy in India. Lack of required policies for pharmacy practice, lack of patient oriented education, no compulsory continuing education, weak enforcement of laws. No recognition of pharmacists in Government/ public/ other stakeholders, lack of public awareness about role of pharmacist. Globally, the role of the pharmacists has expanded and they are considered as healthcare professionals and serves as a link between the doctor and the patient. But Situation in India is Just started changing after implementation of Doctor Of Pharmacy (Pharm D) Course .

v WHAT INDIAN REGULATORY AUTHORITIES SHOULD DEVELOP??

These governing bodies like PCI,AICTE and several association like IPA, IPGA, IPHA, ACPI, APTI should not only talk in conference about high fi things about pharmacy but  they must also think and do some  ground level  work and necessity issues like:

 India Should develop their own Good Pharmacy practice Guidelines and should start implementing them very strictlyØ

 There are several ministry in the government of India and state governments but pharmacy is still not consider a prime issue for its proper recognition by the governments Like Ministry of health there must be a separate Ministry of Pharmacy both at central level and state level under this pharmaceutical industry, hospital and community pharmacist must come, it should not be like present situation , Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) under  Ministry of ChemicalsØ & Fertilizers.

 PCI already announced they are planning to make B.Pharm as the minimum preferred qualification to become pharmacist in India and they are continuously announcing from 3 years that it is under Pipeline. It should be done immediately without any delay As we know presently D.pharm is the Essential qualification to become pharmacist in IndiaØ

 Govt Of India and Concerned Regulatory authority should take necessary actions to Review the system of DRUG INSPECTORS same as how Govt of India is planning to review Road Transporter Officers (RTO’s). Hope the present Government will do that, as it is taking forward steps by using technology.Ø

 Pharmacy governing bodies like PCI and AICTE are now only approving more no. of college but these are not much concern about the Quality of education, Creating job opportunity for graduate pharmacist in industry and hospitals. Due to the mushrooming of the pharmacy institutions, quality pharmacy education has faltered.Ø

 Redefining the role of pharmacists

Patient Care: 

Being an integral member of the healthcare team responsible for the outcomes associated with the

medication use process.

 Recognizing that the pharmacy staff is our most important resource.·

 Contributing to and accepting responsibility for optimal therapeutic outcomes including promoting wellness.·

 Fostering an environment that promotes the safe, efficacious, and cost-effective use of medications.·

 Improving the medication use process to enhance continuity of care.·

 Recruiting and retaining highly qualified pharmacists.·

Education:

 Fostering an environment designed to advance knowledge of the rational use of medications.

 Mentoring and training staff members to enhance their professional development.·

 Educating patients and healthcare professionals on the safe use of medications.·

 Providing health education programs to the community to prevent disease and promote public health.·

 Ensuring high quality care through the education of students and Continues education to all the other Health care staff·

Research: 

Making sound decisions supported by evidence based medicine through research on medication use and patient safety.

 Developing and conducting research to improve the safety and efficiency of the medication use system.·

 Utilizing research methods to identify the most cost effective use of medications.·

 Initiating and supporting interdisciplinary collaborative research.·

RAY OF HOPE :

We can slowly see some positive changes in few pharmacies and can see that professional services have been initiated, including:

 Educating patients on dosage,ü

 Use of devices such as inhaler techniques,ü

 Measurement of height-weight-BMI, blood pressure, blood sugar checks.ü

There have been improvements in computerisation and infrastructure with growth in patient counselling areas. Patient leaflets and stickers for counselling have also been developed.

Pharmacists are starting to make themselves and their expertise visible with signs about the availability of counselling in the local language. So these new generation pharmacies and pharmacists are the ray of hope for us.

India is today one of the top emerging markets in the global pharmaceutical scene. The sector is highly knowledge based and its steady growth is positively affecting the Indian economy. The organised nature of the Indian Pharmaceutical industry is attracting several companies that are finding it viable to increase their operations in the Country.

 PHARMA VISION 2020 :

The Pharma Vision 2020 is a charter organized by the 55th Indian pharmaceutical congress. The charter was inaugurated by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, to attain this vision one has to improve upon the production of drugs and its import. Preventive medicine needs to be encouraged to the maximum extent possible. Fields such as compliance monitoring to standardise SOP and vaccine production have to be recognized and supplemented.

India's pharmaceutical sector will touch US$ 45 billion by 2020, according to a major study by global management and consulting firm, McKinsey & Company. The report further states that the Indian pharmaceutical market will be the sixth largest in the world by 2020

CONCULSION

With all this, 2020 is not just a vision but should be the reality. In the year 2020, pharmacist and pharmaceutical scientist working within various discipline of pharmacy will be well established and recognized as the medicine expert and will be an expert in health promotion and disease prevention.

Indian pharmacist will be actively involved in national health programmes and perform individualized therapy. Finally a pharmacist should be patient oriented rather than product-oriented, so that he can be a total healthcare provider's.