With a view to attract more students to take up pharmacy education as a serious profession, the 51st National Pharmacy Week celebrations that was conducted recently in Andhra Pradesh focused on building pharmacy as the most preferred professional educational brand in the state.

The event that was jointly organised by the Indian Pharmacy Graduates' Association (IPGA), in association with All India Drugs Control Officers' Confederation (AIDCOC), the Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA),  Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) and Organisation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (OPM) at NIPER, Hyderabad, focused on the importance of pharmacists in public health and role of pharmacists as community pharmacists.

Experts from the industry pointed out that though pharmacy courses like B. Pharm and M. Pharm provide a wide scope of job opportunities and career growth, these professional courses have not yet been able to acquire the intended brand recognition among the students, because of which the pharmacy as a profession is regarded as the third in line profession after medicine and engineering. They point out that pharmacy education in the state is seriously lagging behind to attract the top meritorious students into its fold; this in turn is impacting on the future growth prospects. Lack of innovative thinking and unavailability of efficient human resources are clear reflections of declining research and development in the field of pharmacy.

Kondru Murali Mohan, minister for medical education and health and family welfare AP, while addressing the event assured to extend all the possible support to the pharma professionals and industry in the state. He urged the young graduates of pharmacy to take up job in the community retail pharmacy profession and help the needy patients by counselling regularly. He also requested the pharma educational institutions to impart all the best expertise and knowledge to the budding pharmacists so as to  make them employable in the industry.

G Dharma Data, president, IPGA, and Dr B Prabha Shankar, honorary secretary, IPGA stressed on creating more awareness among the public about the role of pharmacist in the healthcare management and even urged them to organise campus recruitment drives in colleges to help young pharmacists get job within the industry. To which the industry argued that even pharmacy colleges should also take steps to prepare their training programme in consultation with the industry to match it with the changing trend so that they can be easy absorbed accordingly. They pointed out that today there is a huge shortage of pharmacists in the retail pharmacies and marketing segment.

Dr M Venkata Reddy, former director of Andhra Pradesh Drug Control Administration was awarded with the IPGA NATCO eminent pharmacy graduate award during this event  for his huge contribution in the pharmcy field.