A programme on “promoting rational use of drugs by involving the pharmacists” was organized at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPER) on December 26, 2003 at the institute premises in SAS Nagar, Punjab. The one and a half day programme was conducted in collaboration with the Delhi Society for Promotion of Rational Use of Drugs (DSPRUD) and the India-WHO programme on Essential Drugs. Over 25 participants from various sections of the pharmacy profession have attended the programme, which included hospital pharmacists, community pharmacists, educators, and students. Prof. Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, president, DSPRUD inaugurated the programme and delivered the keynote address.

After welcoming the guests at the programme, director of the institute Dr CL Kaul said, in his address, that worldwide over 50per cent of the medicines are prescribed or sold inappropriately while an equal number of patients fail to take them appropriately. Dr Kaul emphasized that the commonalities between the objectives of the institute and the Delhi Society for Promotion of Rational Use of Drugs have led to this collaboration between the two organizations. He also expressed satisfaction that the department of pharmacy practice, which will interface with DSPRUD, has networked with three major hospitals in the city and this will help in achieving the objectives of improving the use of medicines. The pharmacy practice students, as a part of the educational programme, undergo clinical training at these hospitals.

In his keynote address, Dr Roy Chaudhury said that two areas, which need immediate attention with respect to healthcare, are family planning and HIV. Over 30per cent of women willing to use contraceptives are not able to get them, said the chief guest. Elaborating upon the treatment strategy for the treatment of HIV, he said that the WHO has set a target of treating 3 million HIV patients by the year 2005. Further, he also outlined the various anti-retroviral therapeutic agents, which are clinically proven to be effective in the treatment of HIV. He appreciated the efforts of pharmaceutical scientists and the industry for bringing down the daily cost of therapy to as low as Rs.50-60 a day. However, he also cautioned that for the drug therapy to be successful, the serious adverse effects would need to be monitored intensively.

The programme is specifically meant for pharmacists towards promoting safer and improved use of medicines. This programme, therefore, focused on the role(s) of the pharmacists to promote rational use of drugs and the pharmacists get a chance to learn the practical approaches for studying and implementing the RUD key features including essential drug list, indicators of RUD, sources of drug information and proper interventions to change inappropriate pattern of drug use in the daily practice of health providers. The discussions after the talk have been indeed stimulating. As a part of the programme, the participants got a chance to see the functioning of the pharmacy services at the Government Medical College Hospital on the second day.

The programme ended with vote of thanks proposed by the programme coordinator Dr Pramil Tiwari, who also heads the department of pharmacy practice at NIPER.