Hailing the government of India’s mission, Skill India Programme, which offers job opportunities for skilled persons, the Bihar Drugs and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (BDPMA) has remarked that the Union health ministry’s move to amend the D&C Rules 1945 for making pharmacists as competent persons for wholesale licences is part of the mission.
In a letter of comments sent to the Union health ministry, on the draft notification GSR 1179 (E) dated 28th December 2016 for the amendment of Drugs & Cosmetics Rules, BDPMA has said that amendment of the D&C Rules is necessary in the interest of the prevailing healthcare system in the country. The association’s general body meeting held on 28th of last month passed a resolution to support the government in this matter strongly.
Sanjiv Rai, who has been re-elected as the president of the association, remarked that changing the prerequisite of competent person for wholesale licence to registered pharmacist will definitely ensure availability of quality and genuine medicinal products in the Indian drug market. There will be no scope for counterfeit or spurious or adulterated or misbranded drugs in circulation once registered pharmacists are engaged in all the links of medicine supply.
Revealing the reality of the number of qualified pharmacists, Sanjiv Rai mentioned in his letter that in the present scenario there is no crunch or deficiency of registered pharmacists in any part of the country. There are 1,082 degree colleges imparting B Pharm education, 757 diploma colleges conducting D Pharm course and 63 Pharm D colleges running the doctoral pharmacy programme. These three qualifications are the minimum qualifications required for registering as registered pharmacists as per the Pharmacy Act. Collectively these institutions produce more than one lakh pharmacists every year.
While speaking to Pharmabiz about the amendment issue, he said the D&C Rules were framed 71 years ago and it needed only matriculation/intermediate/degree with experience in pharmacy as qualification for competent person for wholesale licence. But these persons do not have any subject wise knowledge in pharmacy and expertise in drug storage conditions and handling of drugs. The big wholesale markets like Agra (UP), Patna (Bihar), Bhagirath Place (Delhi), and states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, etc, and other parts of the country are full of medicine business dealers run by unskilled competent persons who often involve in malpractices.
He said BDPMA is supporting the government for amendment as for providing quality, efficacious and safe medicines to the consumers/patients, it is necessary that competent persons with knowledge of pharmacy subjects should be engaged in places where medicines are sold, distributed and dispensed. Amendment to make pharmacists eligible for wholesale licence will add value addition to the existing healthcare policies of government of India, he added.