INDIAN PHARMACIST ASSOCIATION

Drugs and Cosmetics Act & Rules need to be modified and there is also a need to review the Schedule H drug List. The Drug Act and Rules also need to outline a clear Over- the- Counter (OTC) drug policy and also notify a ‘Pharmacist dispensing list of drugs’ and ‘Pharmacist to refer to Doctors list of diseases and medicines. These are the recommendations of the second  national survey conducted by the Delhi Pharmaceutical Trust (DPT) to ascertain the ‘Professional Aspects of Pharmaceutical Service by Pharmacist.’

In reality, such a move could have a number of benefits including improving access to medicines, reducing healthcare costs, stated Dr DBA Narayana, Managing Trustee, Delhi Pharmaceutical Trust (DPT).

Healthcare delivery model needs to be reviewed at the national level to involve pharmacists fully and major reforms in the same need to be thought of. Preparation of a list of common and minor diseases and drugs for treating such conditions need to be prepared. These were the recommendations based on the national survey conducted by DPT.

The All India Quantitative Study of Consumer Perceptions, availability, role, services provided and expectations of pharmacists in India revealed that there was a definite trend in the consumers recognizing the importance of pharmacists’ role in healthcare and the trust factor has gone up from what it was a decade ago. Consumers are also getting useful information from the  pharmacists about disease and drugs. Although more  details on drugs from all pharmacists are insisted, consumers are clear that they do not have to pay more for such information or for the counselling provided.

The study has also proved that consumers demands are increasing to expand the services provided by the pharmacists. Further, it was also ascertained that consumers had drawn up on what they considered as common ailments which were not serious and visit pharmacists to get the medication which is being encouraged. The survey respondents accepted that many pharmacists refer the case to doctors and stay away from dispensing drugs for cases of severe chest infections, said Dr Narayana.

Nine categories which allowed DPT to comprehend the psyche of the consumers towards the pharmacy business covered asking for handling prescription, disease conditions where prescriptions are insisted on, patient counselling, usefulness of information given by chemists, willingness to pay more for getting professional information, offer brand substitution, instances of prescription being referred to the doctor by the chemist, issue of bill on purchase and confidence on pharmacist to prescribe.

The survey was conducted on 3086 respondents across the country. While Dr Narayana supervised the study, he was assisted by Kusum Devi, Nimisha  Jain, T Naveen Babu  and Uday Bhosale, department of marketing and management, Al Ameen College of Pharmacy in Bangalore and Asha AN. Co- investigators were Roop K Khar, department of pharmaceutical sciences, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, Moitreyee Manda, department of pharmacy JC Ghosh Polytechnic, Kolkata and Manjiree Gharat, KM Kundnani Pharmacy Polytechnic, Ulhasnagar, Maharashtra.