The Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) will be shortly approaching the Quality Council of India (QCI) to appoint an independent body to issue accreditations to the pharmacies in the country. IPA's pilot project on accreditation of pharmacies has been just completed.

In its bid to improve the image of over 5 lakh retail pharmacy shops in the country, the IPA had launched a pilot project on accreditation. The 3-month long accreditation programme was funded by World Health Organisation (WHO) and the office of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). For the pilot project, the IPA had selected 30 pharmacies each in Mumbai and Goa.

The project was by and large successful as most of the selected pharmacies for the pilot project have complied with the accreditation conditions voluntarily, said IPA community pharmacy division chairman Raj Vaidya.

Some of the parameters for getting accreditation included a minimum of 200 sq feet area, preferably with air-conditioning, refrigerator for keeping the vaccines and injections, etc. Once a pharmacy owner applied for accreditation, a two-member IPA team of assessors would make the assessment before giving the accreditation. The IPA had formed an 8-member team for the purpose.

The IPA's efforts to improve the image of the retail pharmacy trade come in the backdrop of the fact that most of the pharmacies in the country do not operate like standard pharmacy shops. Usually no pharmacists are present in the pharmacy stores, no proper bills are given and there are cases of substandard drugs being sold in these stores.

In a country where pharmacies are run like grocery shops, the accreditation will go a long way in raising the satisfaction of the customers. At present, people are suspicious of the credibility of most of the pharmacies of the country due to the messy atmosphere prevailing in these stores. Accreditation, a voluntary option for the pharmacy owners, is aimed at instilling confidence in the minds of the customers about the product they purchase from these shops.

Vaidya said that under the accreditation programme, everything from looks to functioning, personnel, system and facilities will be upgraded. The ultimate goal is to upgrade the pharmacies voluntarily to improve the quality of service and customer satisfaction.