The Union Government is planning to set up a Central Pharmacy Council for the Indian Systems of Medicine, with a view to regulate and standardize education and support services in the ISM sector. The move is also part of improving the image and standards of ISM products and services in the global arena.

It is learnt that the Department of AYUSH had directed the legislative department under the Ministry of Law to prepare the draft of Pharmacy Bill for ISM sector with provisions of setting up the Central Pharmacy Council.

As part of this initiative, top brass of the Department of AYUSH and the Department of Law had held discussions in this regard during May this year with plans to place the bill in Category B so as to legislate it during the ensuing budget session. However, it is learnt that the bill is unlikely to come up during the current session, as the draft requires clearance from the AYUSH ministry and cabinet before being forwarded to the Parliament for legislation.

Sources said the draft bill is likely to put in place a framework as in the case of the Indian Pharmacy Council for allopathic medicine for streamlining the pharmacy practices, trade and education in the ISM sector. At present, while the services of a registered pharmacist is mandatory for starting a retail outlet of allopathic medicine, the licenses are issued to registered medical practitioners in the case of ISM medicines.

Though numerous ISM outlets, mainly promoted by individual Ayurvedic and Siddha companies are mushrooming, the retail outlets lack qualified pharmacists to man the outlets. The bill may bring in provisions to start recognized courses of B Pharm in ISM medicine. Further, another area the bill is likely to address will be to start recognized ISM courses for training nurses and massagers.

Sources point out that numerous Ayurvedic hospitals have started Panchakarma certificate courses for masseur and nurses training, especially in Ayurveda, eyeing the potential in the field of health tourism. Many accidents have been reported due to lack of professional knowledge of the masseurs in the medical tourism area, and that has caused to doubt the standards of education in the field. At present standardized norms are not available to streamline education for masseurs and nurses, and one of the main components of the bill was likely to address this area, said sources.

Sources said the proposal for Central Pharmacy Council for ISM was initiated a few years ago at a Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) meeting by an Ayurvedic industry representative from Kerala. However, then the CCIM had rejected the proposal citing the issue was beyond the jurisdiction of CCIM, and later it was forwarded to the Ministry of AYUSH for its perusal.