The demand for establishing a pharmacy college at the government medical college at Thrissur in Kerala continues to be unresolved despite repeated reminders to the government.

Students, who wish to learn pharmacy courses, from Kasargodu district in the north to Ernakulam in the south need to apply for a course with the government pharmacy college at Kozhikodu. Except the government medical college at Thrissur, all other government medical colleges, Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Alappuzha and Kozhikodu, have pharmacy colleges and in-house pharmacy laboratories attached to them.

Since in-house labs are attached to the pharmacy colleges in these medical colleges, if the doctors want to have the quality test of the drugs prescribed within the hospital, they can conduct testing at these labs. But, in Thrissur medical college such random check of any category of medicines is impossible due to the lack of an in-house pharmacy lab, which is part of the academic course.

Doctors’ association, government pharmacy teachers’ association, students’ associations and the entire staff associations have made requests to the government for starting a pharmacy college at the medical college since its inception in 1982. Though the medical education director had taken some initiative in the past, no further step was done by the concerned authorities. In an earlier letter to the principal secretary, health, the then principal of the college had suggested that the pharmacy college could be started in the premises of the college using all the infrastructure facilities available there and without bringing any financial burden to the government. But the apathy of the concerned authorities becomes a hurdle to materialize the dream of the people in the northern and middle part of the state.

According to K Manoj, lecturer at the government pharmacy college at Kozhikodu, immense chances of job is awaiting in the state for the pharmacy diploma holders and graduates. But the number of total seats for the D Pharm course in the government pharmacy colleges altogether comes around 180 and for bachelor of pharmacy, 160. The number of posts of pharmacists in the health sector is 1600, under  ESI centres the number is 300 and in the institutions under DME it is 150.

Besides, the state requires the services of about 30,000 pharmacists at the community pharmacies and hospital pharmacies in the private sector. Even as the chances are increasing day by day, the demand for starting one pharmacy college at Thrissur medical college continues to be a distant dream of the academic community and of the students’ community.

Manoj said he, along with his association leaders, will take up this matter once again with the government. The Kerala government pharmacy college teachers association (KGPCTA) will meet the health minister and the health secretary soon with this demand.

The pharmacy lecturer has pointed out that the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940, Pharmacy Act 1948 and Pharmacy Practice Regulations 2015 stipulate that dispensing of drugs should be carried out only under the supervision of registered pharmacists. Plenty of job opportunities are there for qualified pharmacists in the health sector such as drug inspector, government analyst, manufacturing chemist, pharmacist in health centres and teaching posts.   The chances will also increase once the government sponsored Jan Aushadhi generic scheme will become functional.