The Indian Pharmacists Association (TIPhA), a newly formed association of qualified pharmacy professionals in government and private sectors in Tamil Nadu, has exhorted the pharmacists engaged in the profession of pharmacy practice to ensure that the process of procurement is transparent, professional and ethical so as to promote equity and access besides checking accountability to relevant governing and legal entities.

The discussion on pharmacy practice has come up as a major agenda in the seminar organised by TIPhA as part of their pharmacy week celebration in Chennai.

While inaugurating the seminar, S Abdul Khader, the state drugs controller said all the pharmacists, either in the hospital pharmacies or in the community pharmacies, should follow the principles of good pharmacy practice ( GPP). Pharmacists who are responsible for procurement should ensure that procurement is supported by strong quality assurance principles to assure that substandard, adulterated, unlicensed and spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit  medicines are not procured or allowed into the system. They should also ensure that procurement is supported by a reliable information system which provides accurate, timely and accessible information.

Dr. M.Nappinnai, professor of department of pharmaceutics at Surya College of Pharmacy in Villupuram said pharmacists should establish contingency plans for shortages of medicines and for purchases in emergencies. She said it is the duty of the pharmacists to make sure that proper storage conditions are set up for all medicines, especially for controlled substances used in the pharmacy or health-care facility.

Regarding responsible use of medicines, Dr.N.Narayanan, principal,  Jaya College of Pharmacy in Chennai has commented that pharmacists have to ensure that regular monitoring of the medicines inventory is conducted and should always include medicines samples in the process of periodic inspection for expiration dates and removal of outdated stock.

G. Krishnan, proprietor of Shriram Medicals, Velachery, has been presented TIPhA’s ‘Best Pharmacist Award’ for his excellent service to the society. Dr P Muthusamy, president of the association,  G. Palani, secretary, K Sivabalan, deputy drugs controller and M. Elangovan, managing director, Tychos Therapeutics spoke on the occasion.