The Kerala Private Pharmacists Association (KPPA), a body of 15,000 working pharmacists, has lauded the step taken by State Pharmacy Council to inspect the community pharmacies (medical stores) and hospital pharmacies in order to regulate pharmacy profession under Pharmacy Act.

Expressing full solidarity with the Council’s decision, KPPA said it cannot support the demand of the traders and their protest march of August 19. The members of the working pharmacists association will not join the protest march or agitation organised by All Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association in front of the Pharmacy Council office on August 19.

Talking to Pharmabiz, K R Dinesh Kumar, general secretary of KPPA, pointed out that the strike call by AKCDA against the inspection of Pharmacy Council cannot be justified or supported. It is the duty of the Pharmacy Council to enforce Pharmacy Act in the state and regulate the profession of pharmacy. The traders do not want to involve registered pharmacists in their business profession, instead they assign unqualified and non-pharmacist persons to handle medicine sale. Wherever, medicines are supplied or dispensed, they should be handled by pharmacists only, he added.

KPPA members are registered pharmacists working in the private hospitals, clinics, medical stores and unemployed graduates and diploma holders in pharmacy. The association’s state meeting, to be held in Thrissur on 15th and 16th of this month, will discuss the present issue of pharmacy inspections and traders’ attitude, in detail.

“A pharmacy inspector checks mainly four things; whether the registration certificate of the pharmacist is displayed in the medical store, does the pharmacist wear overcoat, whether the pharmacist’s certificate has been renewed on time and does he/she use the identity card. Apart from this, the pharmacy inspectors do not inspect anything as the traders claim that the inspectors are usurping the powers of drug inspectors. As per Pharmacy Practice Regulations 2015, wherever dispensing of medicines is held, the pharmacy inspectors can monitor it. But we do not get any such report from anywhere in Kerala. Our association will always support the initiatives of the State Pharmacy Council whose duty is to inspect all pharmacies and confirm the medicines are handled and dispensed by qualified pharmacists,” said Dinesh Kumar.

Blaming the traders’ association, Dinesh Kumar has alleged that AKCDA is an organisation acting against the interests of pharmacists community and they do not give even the minimum wages to the working pharmacists. They are interested to give good amount as salaries to the non-pharmacist salesmen in the stores. A major retail store or a wholesale dealer’s shop will have seven to ten salesmen who draw more than Rs.10,000 per month, whereas, the pharmacists get only Rs.6,000 or less than that. To a question, he said there is sufficient number of unemployed qualified pharmacists in the state and they are all looking for jobs.

“It is the duty of the Pharmacy Council to ensure that the medicines are handled by registered pharmacists. The traders’ association wants to prevent the move of the Council to regulate pharmacy profession. AKCDA’s agitation is an open fight against the pharmacists’ community in Kerala. KPPA will not allow the salesmen to unite and form an organisation to handle drugs sales when qualified and registered pharmacists are here. Pharmacy profession cannot be brought within the purview of business, it is part of healthcare management,” said C. Jayakumar, secretary of the Alappuzha district committee of KPPA.

Meanwhile, based on the news items in Pharmabiz, the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has sought a clarification from the principal health secretary, government of Kerala, on the issue of Pharmacy Council’s inspections at medical stores and traders’ objections. The registrar of PCI, Archana Mudgal, has sent a letter to the principal secretary seeking details of the issue in the state.