Aimed at creating awareness about the proper functioning of pharmacies
in private and public sector and the need for rational use of medicines,
India Pharma Revolution (IPR), a Delhi-based Group of Pharmacists
reached Goa and met state government health officials on November 18
after touring 25 states.
In order to sensitise patients towards
health safety, pharmacists through the IPR yatra advocated the need of
common man to access knowledge on Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR),
rationale use of medicines, drug interactions, side effects and toxicity
through the establishment of drug information centres and
pharmacovigilance centre in the Goa state.
Among the other
demands IPR yatra pursued were setting up of warehouses for stocking all
lifesaving drugs and creation of medical supply depot for storage of
generic drugs. "State government should take the initiative on this
front as central government will readily support such a system. Besides
this, quacks should also not be allowed to practice medicine and the
state government should take this aspect seriously," members of the
yatra said. Other demands included creation of separate directorate of
pharmacy in the state and also restructuring of pharmacists cadre.
Reiterating
the fact that pharmacy sector at the government level needs a revamp to
provide better services to the public, Yatra convenor Amitav Joyprakash
Choudhury pointed that modernization of drug testing labs in the state,
appointment of drug analysts and technical manpower need to be met
urgently by the concerned authorities for better patient safety.
As
per the agenda of IPR, the pharmacists from across the country have
also demanded that the government should recognise professionals with
Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm. D) as primary healthcare providers in the
state. Professionals holding Pharm D degrees are not recognised as
primary healthcare providers, while they have all the knowledge about
the drug information and can treat basic illness.
Among other
demands, the pharmacists have proposed the state government to create a
separate Directorate of Pharmacy in the medical and health department
and designate Pharmacists as Director Pharmacy, Deputy Director (Admin),
Deputy Director (purchase), officer in charge pharmacy and chief
pharmacists in each hospital in every district.
Source: PharmaBiz
