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The West Bengal Pharmacy Council (WBPC) will soon open a Drug Information Centre (DIC) in a room attached to the council office to provide comprehensive information on medication related inquiries, and on safety measures connected with COVID-19 pandemic to the public.
The Centre will be launched in association with the leading pharmacist associations in the state and their cooperation will be sought for the continuation of the centre’s operation, sources informed.
The centre will answer to queries of people from all strata of the society on the use and side-effects of the medicines they use or are advised to use. Highly qualified pharmacists like Pharm D or M Pharm persons will be engaged to handle the centre. It is learnt that the council, in its next meeting, will finalize the rest of the things. Apart from common people and patients, the retail pharmacists and healthcare professionals can also ask questions on drugs and they will be provided with reliable information, said Dr. Rabindra Debnath, vice president of WBPC.
According to sources, the state pharmacy council has taken the decision to open the information centre on the request of the Progressive Pharmacist Association (PPA) of West Bengal, which approached the council with a request in this regard. The association recently sent one letter to the council president, Dr. Nirmal Mahji who is also the Minister of State for Labour with the state government. PPA has raised one anxiety that because of the present lockdown, the public is deprived of pharmaceutical services and many of them, for fever and cold, consume drugs bought from medical shops without any information on their use. Hence the state pharmacy council, in association with PPA, should launch a drug information centre. The letter written by PPA president, Dipak Bandhyopadhyaya, says that self-medication by people of West Bengal is becoming a growing concern for the association. PPA has offered full support to the council in assisting it in the operation of the DIC.
The state pharmacy council vice president said the delay in launching the information centre happens only because of non-availability of room. However, it will be launched after the lockdown is over. “Everybody is busy with corona virus infection containment and we will look into it as soon as the situation is completely stabilized. It is a project of the council which has already decided to start the facility. We are looking for a room, in the same building of the council office some rooms are vacant. One of those rooms will be taken for opening the drug information centre “, he told Pharmabiz.
Moinuddin Molla, a government pharmacist and joint secretary of the PPA said the association had represented the council earlier too with the same demand which has now turned out to be a necessity for the state during the COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown period. He wanted the council to utilize the potential of the qualified pharmacists of West Bengal for the welfare of the public. As a healthcare professional, he is also ready to undertake the duties at the DIC to serve the people. According to him, lack of information on drug use may cause many drug related problems among patients, especially among those with chronic ailments.
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