INDIAN PHARMACIST ASSOCIATION

The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), the statutory body formed to regulate the pharmacy education and practices in the country, has decided  to change the syllabus for diploma in pharmacy course (D. Pharm) to make it healthcare oriented. The changed syllabus is expected to be introduced from next academic year.

Sources said that though a decision to this was taken in its Central Council Meeting held in February 2011, discussions are still on to prepare the nitty-gritties of the changes that have to be effected.

Experts said that the decision to make changes in the syllabus was taken as the PCI noticed that the syllabus, prepared way back in 1991, for the diploma course was vast, and the students were finding it difficulties to absorb the course. The changing scenario of pharmacy and current modern development makes it necessary to change the syllabus frequently.

The syllabus for each technical course needs to be updated to meet the current requirement of the country or to put new development in the new course, experts feel.

Dipankar Chakroborthy, vice president, PCI said, “We have not changed the syllabus for such a long period after it was set in 1991 and the expectation of  the minimum registrable qualification of pharmacist may be changed from diploma to degree. But that  decision of the central government is pending. Now it has been decided that PCI cannot wait for indefinite period for the decision of the Government to change the syllabus.”

The members of the Council has decided that the modification of the syllabus should be taken up on priority basis. While deliberating on the issue, members had pointed out that there is a need to look at the syllabus from the healthcare point of view, i.e. whether the students coming out of the institutions can act as a healthcare provider in the current healthcare set-up.

Chakroborthy informed that the present syllabus is not serving the current healthcare need. It was resolved that the diploma syllabus need to be thoroughly revised and should be made healthcare oriented.

PCI is responsible to provide a pharmacy education that focuses on the future requirements of pharmacists in the country, taking into consideration the demands of the healthcare landscape in the future. It is therefore important that the pharmacy education should be constantly revised and updated to meet the challenges.

PCI regulates the profession of pharmacy and frames education regulations prescribing the conditions to be fulfilled by the institutions seeking approval of the PCI for imparting education in pharmacy and to ensure uniform implementation of the educational standards throughout the country.

Source: Pharmabiz

The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has pointed out that the standards in Pharmacy education in Andhra Pradesh have touched rock bottom. Owing to this, the council has urged the state government to restrict B. Pharma seats in each pharmacy college to 60.

Over the past few years, several colleges were sanctioned with intake ranging from 100 to 300 seats by the All India Council for Technical Education, (AICTE) despite a request from PCI to cap the seats at 60.

The PCI president, Prof. B Suresh and PCI education division chairman Prof. T V Narayana met the officials of the higher education department and urged them not to grant approvals for more than 60 seats. Earlier, in 2010, owing to higher demand for admission to B. Pharm and M. Pharm, the AICTE had decided to increase the seats from 60 to 120 and 8 to 18 respectively. During the year, Andhra Pradesh had 98 Pharma colleges with an overall intake of 3970 students in these colleges.

If quality of education is maintained, pharmaceutical sector provides greater career opportunities for the students. There are more than 20,000 units manufacturing drugs and pharmaceuticals in India, employing almost 1.5 million people. There are various job opportunities in areas like in hospitals, stores, laboratories, etc.

Seeing the growing number of students opting for pharmacy as a career, the demand for admission in to the pharmacy colleges have drastically increased during the past few years. Many colleges offer courses like 2 years Diploma in Pharmacy, 4 years Bachelor of Pharmacy, 2 years Master of Pharmacy etc. The eligibility criteria is10+2 or equivalent examination with Physics, Chemistry, Maths or Biology. They also offer specialization in subjects like Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Marketing & Management etc.

Of late, it has been observed in many colleges that the college administrations are flaunting the basic norms needed to upkeep the quality in pharmacy education. Many colleges are not employing qualified teaching faculty. The laboratories and other basic infrastructure facilities are lacking in these colleges. For every additional intake, it is mandatory to have adequate basic facilities like labs, faculty, and  infrastructure to maintain the desired quality in education. “Today we see students who have secured higher qualifications in pharmacy; but most of them fail at the interview. They do not even have the basics knowledge of chemistry. I wonder how they are clearing their final exams,” a source said.

Source: Pharmabiz

The Union health ministry’s ambitious plan to establish an overarching regulatory authority in the medical education sector will be a reality soon as the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is learnt to have given the green signal for the draft bill on National Council for Human Resource in Health (NCHRH).

The draft bill, which was finalised by the union health ministry, for the establishment of the NCHRH as an overarching regulatory body for health and allied sectors, has received the approval from the PMO. Now that it has received the PMO approval, it will be put up before the Union Cabinet and will finally be introduced in Parliament for its final nod, sources said.

The NCHRH is proposed to be established by the health ministry as an overarching regulatory authority in the country to reform the current regulatory framework in medical education and enhance the supply of skilled personnel to the healthcare sector in the country. Once in place, the NCHRH will be the overarching regulatory body for all the premier medical educational institutions and autonomous regulatory bodies like Medical Council of India (MCI), Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), Nursing Council of India (NCI), Dental Council of India (DCI) and the proposed Central Councils for Paramedical and Allied Medical Sciences Education.

It will prescribe standards with a view to have proper planning and co-coordinated development of medical and allied health education throughout the country and maintain national live electronic register of medical and allied health professionals.

As per the draft bill, the administration of the Council will consist of a Secretariat headed by a Secretary-General who will be appointed by the Council for a fixed term of three years. Under this secretariat, seven departments, each for separate categories like Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Dentistry, Rehabilitation & Physiotherapy, Public Health & Hospital Management and Allied Health Sciences, will be established and headed by a director for regulatory purposes.

In every state, there will be separate bodies constituted by the Council for each administrative department which will be known as Registration and Ethics Board with name of the state in front and the department’s name in the end. These bodies will replace the existing State Councils. These boards have to maintain a live electronic register of professionals in the state of the respective Department to be known as ‘State Register of (name of the Department) and which will be linked to the National Register of Human Resources in Health maintained by the Council.

Each Board will comprise of a president, a vice-president and not less than 10 members out of which three will be women candidates. There will be a nominee of the state government also.

Source: Pharmabiz

In a scathing attack on Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) for its disapproval notice given against the six months course being conducted by the Academy of Pharmacy Management and Guidance (APMG), Kolkata, the secretary of the academy said their course is different from the courses offered by PCI, hence they don’t want any recognition from the statutory body.

The academy was floated by West Bengal Unit of the All India Chemists and Distributors Federation (AICDF) to train the unqualified pharmacists in the state. The traders associated with the academy demand for amendment in the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 in respect of dispensing of drugs from retail shops.

Coming down heavily on the decision of the pharmacy council, the traders argue that they are getting packed formulations from manufacturing companies and handing over the drugs against valid prescriptions. They neither make any drugs nor add anything into the formulations, then why should they appoint qualified pharmacists in their drugs stores. Instead, they will train their pharmacy workers updating with latest developments and knowledge about new drugs.

In response to the letter sent by PCI to the Academy stating disapproval of its six months course, Drug Store Management Course, the Secretary of the Academy, Joydeep Sarkar has commented that he did not want any recognition from the PCI or from West Bengal Pharmacy Council to run their course as it is not meant for registration. The course is meant only to upgrade the knowledge of the pharmacy workers, especially D-category pharmacists who are in plenty in most of the rural areas of the state.

“Our course is compact, tailor-made and pharmacy-friendly. It is aimed to the practical knowledge of those who are engaged in the drug stores without sufficient qualifications. We are updating with the latest developments happening in the pharmaceutical sector, especially knowledge about new drugs. This is not for registering with any council or for any higher study. We are giving training to our workers,” he said.

He said the Diploma and the Degree courses approved by the PCI are in many ways inadequate and  insufficient  to run a chemist shop conveniently. The D Pharm course consisting two years study and 500 intern hours is much below than the International standard of contemporary studies conducted in foreign countries. This PCI approved courses do not include much of the regular practical training and knowledge about drugs and pharmacy in the entire curriculum, which are the obligatory part in pharmacy management and operation, he said while accusing the statutory body for disapproving his 6 months course.

He said it is a pity that PCI instead of taking steps to avoid the shortage of registered pharmacists for the chemists shops in the country, bringing stringent norms just to make the healthcare services complicated. APMG is trying to follow WHO‘s guidelines to arrange proportionate health workers for the ailing community even in the remote, rural areas where government health support is very poor. The Academy believes that it is no way unconstitutional to learn more for improving skills and services while the pharmacy workers are engaging in essential and specialty products. The Academy is very keen to educate and update the experienced pharmacy workers to reduce the probabilities of minimum mistakes from any chemist shop while serving or dealing with the patients, the secretary of the academy told Pharmabiz.

“APMG has never published any newsletter or circular or notes demanding their DSM Course as an alternative to the D-Pharm or B-Pharm course. We subsequently demand amendments in the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 to eradicate the ambiguity and confusing facts in respect of dispensing of drugs,” he added.

Academy of Pharmacy Management & Guidance has already arranged constructive meetings with the ministers and MLAs of west Bengal on this burning issue and is hopeful that a favourable decision from the government will come out soon. According to him the academy will open more study centres of DSM Course in other districts shortly.

Source: Pharmabiz

The state has only four pharmacy inspectors to pay surprise visits to general practitioners’ clinics and government and semi-government hospitals to ensure that non-qualified people do not dispense medicines to patients.

The four inspectors are attached to the Maharashtra State Pharmacy Council, which has a small office in Mulund (West) but a registered pharmacist strength of 1,18,000. It makes around 10,000 fresh registrations every year.

The pharmacy inspectors have conducted 30,000 inspections across the state since 1999, the year they came to be appointed.
They have issued around 8,000 notices to defaulting general practitioners for employing unqualified people to give out medicines.

However, the council has registered only eight cases against doctors, all of whom pleaded guilty and were asked to pay fines. The last conviction, involving three Mulund doctors, took place in 2007.

The council’s deputy registrar Vivek Chaudhari said: “We make do with funds raised from registration fees, as we are not funded by the state or the central government. As a result, we cannot hire more inspectors. But the use of unqualified pharmacists by general practitioners is incorrect and poses a threat to the lives of several patients.”

The Bombay high court also recently restrained around 2,000 pharmacists/compounders — appointed by the state government after 1984 in hospitals, primary health care centres and other state-run hospitals and dispensaries — from handling medicines, as they were not qualified.

Interestingly, as per the Pharmacy Act, a doctor who employees an unqualified pharmacist is held as an abettor in the crime and liable to a maximum punishment of six months in jail or a fine of Rs1,000 or both under section 42 of the act.

Chaudhari said: “Since the medical profession is considered to be a noble one, magistrates, too, hesitate in sending them to prison. But in most cases, the doctors plead guilty and pay the fine.”

The council is more focussed on pharmacists handling around 2,500 ‘sound-alike-look-alike’ drugs. For instance, tibitol is an anti-tuberculosis drug while tobitil is an osteoarthritis drug.
Chaudhari said: “The threat perception is high because the compounder might not be able to gauge the difference easily. A patient who has been prescribed tibitol will continue to suffer from TB and keep having painkillers.”

Even with its short staff, the council has been chalking out several public awareness programmes. It has also started a free drug information centre for doctors to gainin-depth knowledge of new drugs.

Source: DNA

Andhra Pradesh Pharmacy Council (APPC) has begun a campaign against registered pharmacists who hire out their certificates to others in return for some payment. The Council has decided to cancel the registration of those pharmacists who have hired out their certificates after verification, it is learnt.

It has already issued 1200 show cause notices to such pharmacists. The Council said that hiring of certificates is happening in the state for quite sometime. The Pharmacy Act 1949 provides provisions for action against hiring out certificates by pharmacists. It includes Rs.1000 penalty and imprisonment of six months. There are more than 65000 registered pharmacists in the state.

“Many registered pharmacists have hired out their certificates to others in return for some monthly payment. Our objective is to implement the provisions of Pharmacy Act in a proper way. We have asked all those who hired out their certificates to take it back. Also the registered pharmacists should renew their certificates in every five years but most of them have not done so for several years. If the certificate is not renewed, technically it gets expired. The Pharmacy Act 1948 provides a grace period of three months for the renewal of certificates,” said, Vijay R Annapareddy, president, Andhra Pradesh Pharmacy Council.

He added that only registered pharmacists are authorized to dispense drugs and the first priority of the Council is to ensure the presence of pharmacists in the medical shops and then to educate them on various aspects. With a view to help the pharmacists, the APPC has recently started a career guidance council. It is planning to start human resource and education cells for the pharmacists. It is also organising a series of seminars on public safety awareness.

The Council said that bio-metric samples of all registered pharmacists would be collected to ensure manning of retail pharmacies with qualified pharmacists.

Source: Pharmabiz

The Maharashtra State Pharmacy Council (MSPC) wants the government to include patient counselling as a separate subject in pharmacy education as pharmacist play a major role in handling the patients. It wants the government to provide funding for  implementing this so that it will help to raise the image of pharmacy profession in the country.

Vaijnath Eknath Jaguste, vice president, MSPC informed that at present there are 1,18,000 pharmacists in the state who are registered under the Council and are working in government and private organisations. However he pointed out that despite having the degree, the quality of pharmacists is not upto the mark as is the case in developed countries.

He says, “Our only demand had been to ensure that the people who are handling patients should be qualified properly to do so. Apart from having a degree, it is vital that these pharmacists should also be trained and informed about their responsibilities which includes handling patents too.”

He said that in India although pharmacists have degree, very few have practical experience. Pharmacists have a vital role to play in the society and they should not be seen as a technical support only but as one who are capable of offering value added service to the patients.

To improve the quality of work and to change the way of looking at pharmacist the MSPC along with the help of PCI have been conducting 16 day workshop in various colleges in the state  for training the pharmacists on patient counselling. Jaguste says “As of now almost 4000 plus pharmacists have undergone this workshop and are certified for it. We hope that we could train as many pharmacist as possible and make them suitable to do this job more effectively.”

He pointed out that in spite of these initiatives they are not able to reach their goal any faster due to lack of proper funding. “Our main aim is to train and make new generation pharmacists as good as their foreign counterparts but to train them we need funding of at least Rs.37 crore. We hope that the central government or the state government will understand the need and importance of having this in our system and will allot us with the funds and will take required steps,” he added.

Source: Pharmabiz

The Pharmacy Practice Regulations 2010, framed by the Pharmacy Council of India to regulate the pharmacy profession and soon to be notified by the Union Government, may give a new dimension to the pharmacy profession of the country, it is learnt.

Besides escalating the pharmacy career into a noble domain of social service, the regulations will make clear the role and responsibilities of the pharmacists who have to practice methods of practice founded on scientific basis. The draft of the regulations has been circulated to all the state drug control authorities for their feedback and it will become a rule with its notification by the central government soon, said Dr B Suresh, president, PCI.

The regulations that mandate certain norms for the registered pharmacists emphasize the need for improving their knowledge and skills which should be made available for the benefits of the patients. The draft of the PPR says a person having qualification in any other system of pharmacy will not be allowed to practice modern system of pharmacy in any form. The registered pharmacist is bound to uphold the dignity and honour of his profession. Once the rule is notified, it will become mandatory for the pharmacist to attend two refresher courses in pharmacy of minimum one day duration each in a span of five years organized by PCI or government agencies or professional bodies recognized by the Council.

Another significant clause is that for the advancement of the profession, a registered pharmacist should affiliate with associations and societies of allopathic pharmacy professions and involve actively in the functioning of such bodies. He should also participate in professional meetings as part of Continuing Pharmacy Education programmes organized by reputed professional academic bodies or any other authorized associations.

According to the draft regulations, the pharmacist has to undertake a pharmaceutical assessment of every prescription presented for dispensing. Pharmaceutical assessment means the point at which registered pharmacist applies his knowledge to establish the safety, quality, efficacy and rational use of drugs treatments specified by a prescriber. He should be ready to respond to the calls of the sick and the injured and be mindful of the high character of his mission and the responsibility he discharges in the course of his professional duties.

Union government should look at utilising the large pool of one million pharmacists in the country to support the growing shortfall of health workers in primary and community health centres. Although considerable efforts are being made by the Centre to take on pharmacists to support its shortfall of medical personnel, a lot more needs to be done, stated Dr B Suresh, president, Pharmacy Council of India and vice chancellor, JSS University, Mysore.

There are a large number of pharmacists which are underemployed in the country at the government medical and regulatory institutions. For instance, the government had set up 12 pharmacovigilance centres in the country and 11 of these facilities are manned by medical professionals with only one centre offering an opening for a pharmacist. This should change and pharmacists should be selected for many of these assignments, Dr Suresh told Pharmabiz on the sidelines of the 62nd Indian Pharma Congress which was held at Manipal between December 17-19, 2010.

“The only way to achieve the goals of the Pharma Vision 2020 would be to ensure pharmacists get the right opportunity and serve as a link between patient and the doctor. Going by the serious shortage of doctors, pharmacists can pitch in to support the healthcare services in the areas of medication management, outcome monitoring and dosage monitoring,” he added.

“The pharmaceutical industry which has come up to a level of recognition now needs to take the assistance of pharmacists in the areas of promoting safe, effective, rational medicine use and patient counselling for India to be able to achieve the Pharma Vision 2020 mandate.”

Currently, the country has the largest qualified pharmacists pool compared to the developing countries of Africa and South Asia. While it is estimated by the World Health Organisation that funds to the tune of US$ 2.5 billion will be needed to train the pharmacists in these countries, Indian government should tap the opportunity of allowing pharmacists to take assignments in these countries under a mutual agreement between nations facing a shortfall of healthcare workers, pointed out Dr Suresh.

Therefore the qualified pharmacists in India now need to increase their expertise and expand their knowledge base in the areas of high tech tailored drug therapies for not just communicable diseases but also maternal and ageing population diseases.

Over the last four IPCs beginning from Mumbai in 2006, Pharmacy Council of India and the IPCA have taken up the onus to create an awareness at these platforms on the importance of pharmacy regulations, building trust, safety and efficiency in healthcare. “We have made inroads as far as extensive and intensive information, education and communication exercises are concerned. Now the government should ensure that pharmacists are utilised in many areas of the healthcare services”, he stated.

A pharmacist can play a wider role in reducing fatalities arising out of medication errors, maternal healthcare, child immunisation programmes, besides controlling the spread of AIDS, HIV and tuberculosis. The government will be able to reduce the disease burden if their services are well utilised opined Dr. Suresh. Therefore the need of the hour is to sensitize the indispensable role of pharmacists in the healthcare space, he added.