The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), an organisation representing 7.5 lakh chemists in the country recently sent a representation to the health ministry seeking assistance in resolving the current shortage of registered pharmacists in the chemists shops by amending Rule 65(15)(c) of Drugs & Cosmetics (D&C) Rules.

The association pointed out that considering the lack of qualified pharmacists in the country compared to the number of retail shops it is not possible to always ensure presence of a pharmacists in the chemists shops. To resolve the long pending issue of shortage of pharmacists, the association wants the government to amend the existing law by allowing to register the partner or the proprietor engaged in the retail medicine shops having minimum experience of five years as well, as qualified person within Rule  65(15)(c) of D&C Rules.

AIOCD believes that amending the said Rule will enable and lawfully permit the partner or the proprietor to dispense the medicines to patients. As per the D&C Act 1940 & Rules 1945, at present the sale of scheduled drugs can be made on the prescription of registered medical practitioner only under the supervision of a registered pharmacists.

J S Shinde, president, AIOCD pointed out that of all the pharmacists who are on the roll of the register of the state councils many of them are working in government institutions, others in the industry, hospitals and teaching professions, while many others have either joined joined sales profession or have opted for higher education leaving very few candidates for chemists trade.

“Considering all these factors it becomes practically very difficult for us to follow the law leading to frequent confrontation between the regulators and chemists fraternity. Most importantly this is leading to a dicey situation which is affecting the patients at large, as availability and delivery of medicines to the needy patients especially belonging to the rural areas becomes an issue,” Shinde asserted.

He further suggested that the only plausible solution to address this situation is by amending the law. He stressed that state government should issue special authority letter (SAL) to the partner or the proprietor having five years experience for running his own pharma retail shop since he or she has been unable to appoint a pharmacists in the shop due to the lack of pharmacists.

The association strongly believes that this measures need to be taken at the earliest to address this issue so as to ensure that the patients are not made to suffer due to this issue.