The Pharmaceutical Society of Kerala, the subsidiary of Kerala State Pharmacy Council (KSPC), formed with a vision to support and enhance the pharmacy practices in the state, is all set to establish a string of drug information centres in various parts of Kerala.

The initial plan of the Society is to set up such centres at Thiruvananthapuram for the south Kerala, one for the northern region and another one at Ernakulam for the central region of the state. The Society prefers to set up these centres at hospitals, in private, government or co-operative sector and is yet to finalise suitable institutions.

"The project was conceived by the KSPC and started with the first centre at Thiruvananthapuram, with the help of specially made software for the purpose. We are trying to take up the venture with the help of KSPC and the aim is to set up one centre in each district," Prof. K.G.Revikumar, chairman, Pharmaceutical Society of Kerala told Pharmabiz.

He said that the flexible software, created by the KSPC, to fetch the details within a short time would be of help for the centres to work smoothly. The society will be offering the services round the clock, he explained. The society estimates Rs. 3 to 5 crore for launching one unit with the necessary infrastructure.

The Society aims to enter into drug manufacturing, by forming consortium with existing drug manufacturing units which are willing to function as clusters. The society has already commenced talks with some drug manufacturers in the state. The society aims to bring down the prices of medicines and ensure quality of drugs. The Society has already recently forayed into wholesale drug distribution with two centres and has plans to expand the operations to various parts of the state in future.

"The new initiatives of the Society aiming promotion of ethics of pharmacy profession and to ensure the quality pharmaceutical care to the public will also create job opportunities in the sector," explained Revikumar.

He added that the society, with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain as role model, have plans to establish a publication wing, with the objective of publishing scientific periodicals, books and journals aimed to update the knowledge of pharmacists.