The Pharmacists Association of Telangana (PAT), lead by Sanjay Reddy, President, PAT is embarking up on a 45-day ‘Pharmacy Profession Elevation and Employment Yatra’ touring all the 10 districts in the Talangana region. The yatra  began on December 16, 2013 from Osmania University and will be concluded on January 30, 2014.

According to PAT president Sanjay Reddy, the purpose of this yatra is to create awareness among the pharmacists and awaken them to fight for their constitutional rights. The main objective of this yatra is to empower pharmacy profession by way of creating more jobs for pharmacists in the rural and urban areas.

While explaining how important a pharmacist is to the society “A pharmacist occupies the second highest position after a doctor in the society. A well qualified pharmacist knows every thing about the nature of a medicine, its composition, its function and its impact on the human body. Except surgical knowledge a pharmacists can almost act as a doctor and can be very much helpful in the rural areas who can act as a substitute for a doctor to prescribe medicines,” says Sanjay Reddy.

Expressing concern over lack of job opportunities in the government and private sector, Sanjay Reddy viewed that in about 50,000 pharmacy stores in the state at least 75 per cent do not employ a qualified pharmacists to dispense drugs. Candidates with 10th class and intermediate qualifications are dispensing drugs in the medical shops in the state. Even the pharma companies are ignoring the pharmacy candidates in their recruitment and taking non professionals to work in the drug manufacturing facilities.

He pointed according to Pharmacy Act 1948, and Drug Control Act 1940 and 45, every pharmacy store should have at least employ one pharmacist to dispense drugs. Instead many pharmacy owners are employing unqualified persons to dispense the drugs because of which the pharmacy graduates are not only loosing their livelihood but also it is becoming a health hazard for the society as there have been many cases of wrong drugs being dispensed by the unqualified persons at the pharmacy stores.

In view of this PAT is planning to tour all the 10 districts in the Telangana region and visit all the district headquarter, drug administration offices, pharmacy colleges, pharmaceutical manufacturing industries and conduct meetings and deliberate on various issues pertaining pharmacy profession.