A countrywide pharmacovigilance programme has been finalized and will be in place soon. Under this, a major training programme for all drug regulatory and quality assurance personnel and technical staff of the pharma industry will be organized in coordination with NIPER, according to Ashwini Kumar, DCGI.

Delivering his presidential address at the 55th Indian Pharmaceutical Congress (IPC 2003) in Chennai, Ashwini Kumar said that the government needs support from a wide cross-section of expert faculty to conduct these training programmes in various facets of pharmaceutical sciences.

Delving into the theme of IPC 2003 titled ‘Pharmacy Medicine Management and National Health Policy’, he also called upon senior fellow pharmacists to share their expertise to enable the government to achieve the objective of bringing in a paradigm shift in professional pharmacy.

He expressed concern over the sporadic reports of spurious and counterfeit drugs in various parts of the country and the non- harmonization of drug enforcements in the states.

It is unfortunate that the government had to set-up committees to recommend measures against spurious drugs, he added. Talking about the pharmacy profession, he said that pharmacists are bound by a code of ethics to deliver best pharmaceutical care in healthcare products.

Over 33 per cent of the country’s population, which is below the poverty line, lacks the adequate means to access the required medicines and healthcare facilities.

Majority of the population has to spend from their own pockets to meet their healthcare needs. The public health spending is only 17 per cent of the 5.2 per cent of GDP expenditure in the health sector.

The DCGI lauded the efforts of Indian pharmacists who have made their mark in various disciplines at home and abroad.

The vision of the Indian pharmaceutical industry is to become a global player in generics. The country is also poised to become a preferred global destination for drug development research including clinical research. The government initiatives to achieve these objectives are clearly perceptible, he said.

While the Indian pharma industry has made its mark on the world map, the need now is to reinforce the ‘India brand’ as a reliable source for quality medicines at competitive prices.

There is a serious dichotomy. “Our per capita consumption of drugs is the lowest. The chasm between availability and affordability is a major challenge for healthcare professionals, particularly the pharmacists,” he said.

The role and involvement of pharmacists in medicine management and overall healthcare programmes is crucial, as resources with patients are limited. “We are bogged down by issues like low education level, burden of the disease, limited public healthcare coverage and the increased burden on physicians.”

There is a need to make sure proper storage of a wide range of drugs. The distribution of drugs and proper use by patients needs to be ensured.

Unfortunately, the vision of pharmacists must be articulated in the National Health Policy. Appropriate policy recommendations needs to streamline pharmacy with healthcare. The quality of pharmaceutical products along with the overall quality of pharmaceutical service is of critical importance. It is only the pharmacists who can deliver both these components in healthcare, he stated.

The first National Health Policy was formulated in 1983. The government’s initiative in public health sector has helped the eradication of small pox, guinea worm, near eradication of polio, leprosy and drop in the level of mortality rates and increased life expectancy from 36.7 years in 1951 to 64.4 years in 2002. There has also been an epidemiological shift in common vector borne diseases and manifold growth in primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare infrastructure.

Although the National Health Policy of 1983 was formulated with the objective to provide ‘Health for All’ by 2002, this basic objective needs to be reviewed and reexamined.

The pharmaceutical industry has made spectacular progress in the various disciplines of pharmacy, specially in areas like pharma industry, education, regulation and research, yet there is not much achieved in community and hospital pharmacy.

Despite the fact that pharmacists are readily available professionals in the country, people are deprived of quality pharmaceutical care. We have continued with aberrations, which crept in during the 30s and 40s when the healthcare system was shaping. In 2003, we are still in the same dilemma. There the issue would require consideration in greater detail, he informed.

The DCGI also expressed that a professionally sound and national level drug regulatory system would have provided the much-needed environment for pharmacy professionals.