Madhya Pradesh Chemists and Druggists Association (MPCDA) has recently conducted workshops to equip pharmacists on Good Distribution Practices (GDP), Drugs and Cosmetics Act (D& C Act) and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act).

The workshops which are being planned to be conducted across 51 districts of Madhya Pradesh has been conducted in 10 districts of the state till date. This comes as a welcome change for pharmacists in the state as drugs covered under NDPS Act, 1985 or Schedule X drugs are also included in Schedule H of the D& C Act like alprazolam, chlordiazepoxide and clobazam which are habit forming drugs and often irrationally consumed.

Schedule X comprises of 15 drugs currently as compared to the list of 17 drugs earlier. Meprobamate, methylphenidate and amphetamine are some of the drugs which can be misused and irrationally consumed. Schedule H of the D&C Act contains a list of 536 drugs which are required to be dispensed on the prescription of a registered medical practitioner.

Informs Rajiv Singhal, general secretary, MPCDA, the state unit of AIOCD, "This initiative taken by us under the guidance of president of AIOCD J S Shinde is significant as there are around 22000 retail drug stores across the 51 districts of the state. The pharmacists at the drug retail stores need to be educated on maintenance of records especially for prescription drugs like Schedule H and Schedule H1 drugs as mandated under the law besides making use of computerised systems for management of inventory and distribution of drugs as per GDP."

In order to have separate regulation to check unauthorised sale of antibiotics, a separate schedule as Schedule H1 was also introduced under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules to regulate sale of 46 drugs exclusively which has been implemented with effect from March 1, 2014.

It has been given to understand that regulations impart a stringent control over products covered under Schedule X with respect to those covered under Schedule H for purchase, stocking, distribution and sale criteria. This directly implies a more rigid accountability in the supply chain of drugs covered under Schedule X with a focus to prevent and control abuse of the products.

Considering the fact that abuse of drugs covered under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 is on the rise due to various socio-economic factors, not only proper regulatory enforcement but a great deal of understanding by the pharmacists of the same is required.