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The All India Public and Private Sector Pharmacists Association (AIPPSPA), a federation of pharmacist associations in the country, is planning to bring its members from across the country to Kerala on December 7 and 8 to assemble on a common platform to discuss the National Pharmacy Commission Bill 2023, which is in the draft stage and likely to come in the Parliament during the budget session next year.
The federation will in detail discuss various sections in the Pharmacy Act 1948, especially Section 26 A and Section 42, besides the Pharmacy Practice Regulations 2015.
AIPPSPA has 14 federating bodies from various states in the country. All the leaders are coming to Thiruvananthapuram on December 7 to attend the council meeting on the 7th and the general body meeting on the 8th, said B S Desai, national chairman of the association.
Speaking to Pharmabiz, Desai said the association is planning to put pressure on the central government to expedite discussion on the NPC Bill which aims to replace the Pharmacy Act of 1948 and the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) with the National Pharmacy Commission (NPC). The federation will forward the discussion points to the central health ministry to speed up the matter on the NPC Bill. The members will also contemplate on several other issues faced by the pharmacist community in the country, said Desai who will call on various pharmacist organization leaders to invite them to the new national federation.
Desai said the major agenda of the federation is to unite the retired pharmacists in the country and utilize their potential and knowledge for the pharmacy profession to strengthen the health sector. Along with, the federation wants to unite the fragmented private pharmacist groups to bring them under one roof. In each state, there are five to ten associations of pharmacists, working without unity and a common strategy. This federation will unite all the government sector and private sector pharmacists for unification of recruitment rules and salary scale. In the private sector, there should be a common pay scale system for the pharmacists.
Talking about the program in Kerala, the former pharmacy assistant director and ex-president of the Kerala Pharmacy Council, B Rajan, said the general body will discuss Section 26 A of the Pharmacy Act in detail, which empowers the state councils to appoint pharmacy inspectors to carry out various duties. He said Kerala was the only state in the country that appointed pharmacy inspectors in all the districts.
Similarly, there will be a separate session on Section 42, which states that only a registered pharmacist can compound, prepare, mix or dispense medicine on a medical practitioner’s prescription. Rajan said, although the Pharmacy Act was enacted to regulate the profession of pharmacy, it is not properly implemented in India. He said he is also coordinating the private associations of pharmacists in India, and they will be united with this all-India federation.
According to Rajan, a resolution is likely to be passed in the meeting demanding separate ministry for pharmacy in the Central government. While Rajan was the president of the council, he submitted memorandum to the government raising demand for the same. In the meeting on December 8, all the state branches of the federation will be intimated to pass resolutions in their state bodies to reiterate the demand for a separate Pharmacy Ministry at the centre.
The pharmacy professionals will raise voice against rising of fake pharmacy courses and fake registrations. Several institutes conduct unapproved pharmacy courses like ‘Pharmacy assistant course’, online pharmacy certificate course, certificate in hospital pharmacy, certificate in pharmacy technician etc. These courses are not PCI approved courses, so they cannot be registered with any state councils. However, issues are going on in certain states with regard to registration of fake certificates, Rajan told Pharmabiz.
Issues regarding pay status and employment security in community pharmacies and private hospitals in the country will also become subjects of discussion in the general body.
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