The Indian Pharmacist Association has demanded a pharmacy cell under ministry of health & family welfare for a better pharmacy administration in the country. The Association is of the view that the pharmacy practice is a specialised technical field and the pharmacy professionals can only suggest, understand and execute the best pharmacy services or cadre in large public interest.

The Association has recently met the J P Nadda, Union health minister to discuss the long pending demand of the pharmacists in the country and issues related to the upliftment of the profession. The Association has a list of demands including increasing the grade pay of the pharmacists, strengthening of FDA for the better coordination with the agencies dealing with food and drugs laws.

Abhay Kumar, president of Indian Pharmacist Association says, “We met the Union health minister and he has assured the demand will be taken into consideration. We have five major demands that is to increase the grade pay as the salary of the pharmacists is very low; increase the department of FDA; formation of directorate or cadre of pharmacists, which will work as a promotional channel for the pharmacists; allow pharmacists to prescribe medicine and upgrade the B pharmacy as the minimum technical qualification for the post of pharmacists.”

Kumar has also submitted the representation to the Union health minister and informed that the 7 CPC has reported that the pharmacists are responsible for storing and dispensing of medicine to patients only. Whereas the pharmacists provide counselling, health education, maintain records of ADR, provide pharmaceutical services to the in-patients, formulate extemporaneous preparation and specialised products, prescription surveys and propose changes on the EDL, attend emergency duty as and when required, indent and check the drugs and non drugs, maintain records of the equipment and other supplies, documentation of records and literature, review of qualification of annual drug requirement of the country or state, verification of the annual indents etc and other miscellaneous work other than storing and dispensing of medicine to patients.

The Association has also demanded to provide non practicing allowance (NPA) of 25 per cent of the basic to the pharmacists on the similar pattern of the medical officer in government of India and to provide the additional increments for the higher tech qualified pharmacists on the pattern of nurse or medical officer in government of India.