Gujarat State Pharmacy Council (GSPC) asks Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) to give a representation to government regarding upliftment of pharmacy profession. GSPC expressed concerns raised by various pharmacists regarding their recognition as an important pillar of the health care system in India. They are a family of almost 12 lakh registered pharmacist all over India that is still underrated in the country.
GSPC said, "It Is seen from recent developments all around the world that many nations trust the quality of medicines in India and they have demanded various medicines from our country. Also, almost 50 percent of all generic medicines sold all over the world are produced in India. It means that all these countries recognize the value of the pharmacists and pharmacy profession in India but unfortunately, we don't have such a great feeling for us in our home country."
Montu Patel, president of GSPC and member of PCI said, "we pharmacists are the backbone of various pharma services like pharma manufacturing, wholesale, retail pharmacy, clinical research organization (CRO), pharma testing laboratories, research and development centers (R&D), pharmacy colleges and active pharmaceutical ingredients plants."
Pharmacists in India have knowledge in various subjects like human anatomy, pharmacology, adverse drug reactions, food-food and food drug Interactions, pharmacognosy, herbal medicines and many other subjects. Also, they have thorough understanding of pharma chemistry for development of generic medicines, quality control and quality analysis of various medicines.
As per GSPC, all above knowledge makes them an ideal personality to have recognition as an important healthcare professional in the society. Unfortunately, this is not happening. Licensed pharmacists in USA are considered trusted healthcare providers and have recently been authorized to conduct COVID-19 testing. But we are still lacking the proper attention of our government even when many of our pharmacists are ready to perform volunteer work even in this difficult situation."
Pharmacists employed in production are working day and night to increase the production to cope up with the rising demand of medicines all over the world.
Montu Patel further said, "I therefore request to raise our voice to get proper attention. We need to receive proper recognition and should be trusted as an important partner of the healthcare system. We are eager to stand up with the government by performing extra duties in such crucial times."
Hope Pharmacy council of India will take necessary steps to bridge the gap between the pharmacist family and the government and take appropriate measures to write to government to utilize such a big healthcare force in the battle against COVID 19 pandemic.
