India’s rich human capital is the strongest asset for Indian pharmaceutical industry which is a knowledge-led industry and the role of pharmacists is very crucial. The empowerment of pharmacist is an entirely new perspective and shall shed new light and thoughts in the field, says Atul Kumar Nasa, president of IPCA and IPGA, in an interview with Joseph Alexander.
Sir, congratulations for spearheading the preparations for the IPC as Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association (IPCA) President. How different is the IPC this time from the previous editions?
While acknowledging your wishes, I would like to also thank the IPCA council members for having had the confidence in me to elect me as the President and I assure you that I shall discharge my duties to the best of my ability. The theme of the 65th IPC “Pharma Vision 2020- Empowering Pharmacist” focuses on bringing pharmaceutical experts across the globe to a single platform where pharmacy education and practices and their development shall be the main issues for debate and deliberation. Empowering pharmacists implies developing leaders in the sector from diverse backgrounds who shall provide their invaluable inputs to the growth of pharma as a profession and an industry.
How bigger will be the participation expected this time? How many foreign participants are expected?
There has been a great response for registration and participation from foreign delegates. We are positive that the scientific sessions scheduled this time, including the job fair shall attract large crowds. It is expected that prominent scientific personalities and intellectuals from the pharmaceutical industry, research and development, regulatory departments, quality control & quality assurance, hospital, clinical & community pharmacy, academic, marketing, policy makers from government departments, pharmaceutical consultants, top officials of state & central agencies will participate in the IPC. About 4000 delegates from various fields of pharmaceutical sciences are expected to attend, interact and benefit with the exchange of technical knowledge.
How many times Delhi has hosted IPC before?
The capital city has hosted the IPC seven times before- i.e in the years of 1955, 1960,1973,1985,1993, 2001 & 2008. Delhi has again obtained the honour of organizing the 65th IPC this year at Delhi NCR, i.e. Amity University, Noida.
How tough has it been to bring all stakeholders together to make the event successful ?
As has been highlighted in detail in the website www.65ipcdelhi.com, the registration of delegates and attendees started in the month of August 2013 and the online submission of papers for the scientific session started well in advance and sufficient time given to all for submission of the scientific papers. The details of the accepted papers are highlighted on the website. Since conferences of such magnitude are multifarious involving various dimensions, it is extremely essential to have advance planning of various phases of the schedule vis-à-vis periodic monitoring which has been regularly going on. Periodic review meetings are held with the patrons like Ficci , IPGA, Amity University, and the administrators of the venue for the event to ensure regular monitoring of the progress in finalizing schedules for the event. The basic motive involved in our efforts to make this event a grand success is meticulous planning of minute details, interaction on various issues and regular feedback on outcome/problems raised by various stakeholders.
How is IPC going to be beneficial to the pharmaceutical and allied industries as a whole?
The pharmacy professionals must be educated and empowered to assume the responsibilities and higher level of leadership roles, so that they can maintain and expand their positions in all field of healthcare sectors. Empowering Pharmacist means developing leaders from a variety of backgrounds, to provide diversity of thoughts and experiences that can move our country forward.
There has been considerable response from the interested delegates for participation in the conference. As can be observed from the website, there are plenary sessions, scientific sessions and scientific poster paper presentations for which about 80 expert speakers have been invited out of which 20 are the foreign speakers. Some of the scientific sessions, inter alia, include sessions on pharmaceutical technology, medicinal chemistry, pharmacognosy, indigenous drugs, herbal formulations and phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology, clinical research & pharmacovigilance, biopharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism, pharmaceutical analysis and quality assurance, biotechnology and biotherapeutics, hospital, community and clinical pharmacy and pharmacoeconomics and pharmacoepidemiology, drug regulatory affairs. It can thus be seen that diverse issues are debated and tackled in the conference which really deserves excellent participation.
With “ Pharma vision 2020- Empowering Pharmacist” as the theme, how will the event benefit the pharmacists community?
Historically, it can be seen that the various issues debated and discussed have been issues such as role of pharmacy, development of the industry, drug research, problems facing the manufacturing pharmacy industry, pharmaceutical education, regulatory measures, challenges and problems, role of pharmacist etc. The empowerment of pharmacist is an entirely new perspective and shall shed new light and thoughts in the field.
Could you kindly further explain how the present-day pharmacist of our country can be empowered?
As stated earlier, empowerment enables pharmacists to go beyond dispensing and position themselves as medication experts and stakeholders in collaborative care delivery. Other potential benefits to the pharmacist include: Developing niche market opportunities, generating repeat business, and increasing market share; Enhancing communication among pharmacists, physicians and patients; Increasing patient engagement, loyalty and trust;Supporting the pharmacist’s role as educator, advisor, and patient advocate. The patients, in turn, get benefits from the services pharmacists offer which include:Personalized attention from a trusted and accessible healthcare professional; Increased understanding of health and medication management, including medication adherence and treatment goals, preventive care, and self-management of chronic conditions; Opportunity for cost savings through elimination of unnecessary medications and use of generics where appropriate; and Chance to positively impact overall health and quality of life.
Online educational tools are provided to the pharmacists in the Western countries to educate them on various diseases so that they in turn they can educate the community. This thus elevates their role to serious clinical decision makers, resulting in excellent motivation and sense of achievement to the pharmacists.
How far healthcare and pharma industry can help in empowering pharmacists?
The Indian pharmaceutical industry has made a phenomenal progress since Independence. We inherited a fledgling drug industry producing formulations worth Rs10 crores annually in 1948. Today we are self-sufficient in pharmaceutical formulations and arc reasonably well placed in bulk drug production. Contribution of pharmacists has not been limited to pharmaceutical science but it is also in the discoveries in general chemistry, phytochemistry, physiological chemistry and various associated sciences.
India’s rich human capital is the strongest asset for Indian pharmaceutical industry which is a knowledge-led industry. We have various pharmaceutical research education institutes such as NIPER which have grown in number and work extensively to address the HR needs of the pharma sector including regulators’ training. Top MNCs are serviced by Indian pharmaceutical companies for their highly regulated markets and meeting their stringent quality expectations. There is effective control system to monitor quality of pharma at all levels in India.
What are the challenges being faced by the Indian pharmacists ?
Despite having shown a tremendous development in the past two decades, there is a constant need to be at par and match with the global competitive environment and hence reinforce and rebuild the standards with statutory bodies and to restore the confidence of the pharmacy graduates. Quality of pharmacy graduation has to be improved and taken to higher levels of professionalism by involving industrial/hospital participation. There is a requirement to ensure right education and empowerment of pharmacy professionals to help them assume higher responsibilities and leadership roles. Empowering pharmacists implies developing leaders in the sector from diverse backgrounds who shall provide their invaluable input in the growth of pharma as a profession and an industry.
As per global studies carried out, it was observed that structural empowerment very largely effects the employees’ commitment, loyalty and other factors in an organization. Further, another observation made is that empowering pharmacists to have direct control and responsibility for institutional drug use protocols can actually assist in reducing costs and improving quality of patient care.
A certain popular American retail chain states that their focus is a patient centred environment and hence pharmacists are given the autonomy to run the business as if it were their own, with a firm belief that empowering the pharmacists to make their own decisions, impacts the profits and attitude of customers. It is thus felt that though the empowerment of pharmacists has gained prominence the world over, India has to develop a lot on this front. The conference shall focus on various aspects which shall be of immense use to the entire fraternity.
Is quality of pharmacy education a concern in India? If so, why?
Quality of pharmacy graduation has to be improved and taken to higher levels of professionalism by involving industrial/hospital participation. There is a requirement to ensure right education and empowerment of pharmacy professionals to help them assume higher responsibilities and leadership roles.
As the IPC is happening in Delhi, the heartland of regulatory system, how will it help to further streamline the regulatory system in the country?
Hosting the conference in Delhi, being the capital and also the seat of all ministries and major authorities would surely play a significant role as representatives from various authorities and regulatory forums are also expected to participate in the conference.
As the President of the IPGA, what do you expect the pharmacy graduates to get out of this biggest gathering of experts and exponents?
As the President of IPGA, I fully expect the experience to be extremely enriching and thought provoking for the pharmacy graduates who shall also have the advantage of participating in the job fair organized as part of the conference and exploit employment opportunities in the pharma sector.
What has been your biggest learning after months of preparations for this event?
I have always firmly believed that systematic and advance planning and periodic review leads to successful implementation of any project and hence, I and my team have meticulously put in our hard efforts from the past six months to make the event a success. I am also of the opinion that good communication, co-ordination and co-operation in a team always leads to efficiency and success. Obstacles and problems are bound to cross your path, but patience and endurance help any team to achieve its best.