Community pharmacists and hospital pharmacists of Tamil Nadu have urged the Pharmacy Council of India to implement some innovative programmes for updating their knowledge about new drugs available for treatments. This was raised at the refresher course conducted for the pharmacists working in different departments including community pharmacy at the Nandha College of Pharmacy at Erode in Tamil Nadu recently.

The course has highlighted the need of awareness to the pharmacists about new therapies and medications. Regarding this, the pharmacists, through Nandha College, has given a memorandum to the Pharmacy Council of India.

The training programme was organised by Dr T Sivakumar, principal of the college and Dr R Ravichandran, vice-president of Tamil Nadu Pharmacy Council was the chief guest.

The participants and the speakers felt that updation of knowledge about new drugs, their ingredients, usages and treatment is necessarily required for the community pharmacists as well as the hospital pharmacists working in rural areas.

The pharmacists also emphasized the need for promulgating the potential of pharmacy education in every corner of the society as the pharmacy colleges are facing shortages of students' strength even in urban and semi-urban areas. They said wakefulness about Pharmacy Education is the need of the hour.

Dr.Ravichandran, who is also the principal of Vels College of Pharmacy, Chennai, has delivered a lecture on current drugs in the treatment of diabetes. P Sengottuvelu, assistant professor, Pharmacology at Nandha College spoke on current drugs in the treatment of Cardio vascular diseases.

While speaking to Pharmabiz, the principal Dr T.Sivakumar said the potential of research work in pharmacy field is not well known to the society. Not a single working pharmacist is attempting to do any research. Besides, those who have completed the course are often in a dilemma about their job segments without knowing where to start.

About 135 delegates from various hospitals have participated in the seminar.