The 53rd Indian Pharmaceutical Congress (IPC), to be organized at New Delhi on the December 21, 22 and 23 2001, will be remembered for its attempt to bring about a sea change in the professional standards of retail pharmacies in India. The last day of the congress will see IPC coming out with a set of India specific guidelines Good Pharmacy Practices (GPP) for the first time in the country, says Brijesh Regal, organizing secretary, 53rd IPC.

According to him, a committee has already been formed for the purpose in Delhi and has started looking into the matter. A draft document should be ready by this September. It will be circulated amongst various experts for approval and the announcement of the GPP guidelines should be expected on December 23. It will be the most important event of the coming IPC.

"The committee has representatives from other states also and will be documenting what is practically possible to be followed in India. We want to take community pharmacy in India on par with international standards. The biggest achievement of the IPC will be that we will be able to prescribe international standards which are practical for the retail pharmacists of our country," he added.

The secretary informed that the campus of Indian Agricultural Research Institute has been chosen as the venue of the Congress.

"It is a massive campus, and we have allocated 10,000 sq ft area for exhibition alone. The event is definitely going to be a special one, very scientific, productive and absolutely international class, with no frills attached to it. We will be utilizing all latest technologies during the congress," he said.

It is known that the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) will be organizing the exhibition.

"We are going to have a couple of pre-symbosia, satellite symbosia in addition to the regular programmes of IPC. The community pharmacy division of Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) will be organizing a meeting specifically for the retail pharmacists. All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists will also be involved and we have invited the president of AIOCD, Dilip Mehta to be present there," he informed.

About 4,000 delegates are expected to attend the congress. The organizing committee will launch a website, www.indianpharmaceuticalcongress.com , in July for the purpose. The website will continue to be there for all future IPCs and will have links to all the constituent associations of Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association (IPCA).

IPCA is a confederation of Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA), Indian Hospital Pharmaceutical Asociation (IHPA), Indian Pharmacy Graduates Association (IPGA), Association of Pharmacy Teachers of India (APTI) and All India Drug Control Officers Confederation (AIDCOC). It represents the different facets of the profession of pharmacy that include industry, R&D, quality assurance, clinical & hospital pharmacy, marketing and distribution, academia and regulators. However, the GPP document will be prepared after taking inspiration from FIP and WHO Guidelines, he added.