AIOCD’s proposal for refresher course cannot be welcomed and supported

• Only in India, a pharmacist with D.Pharm as minimum qualification is allowed to work in pharmacies. It is high time the basic qualification of a pharmacist is changed to degree level, he added. 
• In foreign countries, the pharmacies are managed by the six-year course completed Pharm D graduates who are considered as indispensable part of the healthcare system along with doctors and nurses. Only a qualified pharmacist can dispense the medicine as it is not a tradable commodity. In India, we are all demanding the government to fix B.Pharm as the minimum qualification for a pharmacist. More than one lakh graduates and diploma holders are coming out every year after completing their courses. So, there is no justification in the claim of AIOCD that shortage of qualified pharmacists is there in certain states.
• Responding to the proposal of AIOCD for the refresher course, Jayseelan said drugs are made of chemicals and they have to be carefully handled. There may be chances for adverse reactions of the drug used, drug-drug interaction, drug-food interaction, allergic symptoms etc. if a medicine is passed through the hands of a non-pharmacist, chances of risk are high. The role of pharmacist is relevant in this case. TN IPA will not support the refresher course, he said.
• Jayaseelan wanted the government to start more pharmacy colleges under the government, especially in all the medical colleges. Similarly, Pharm D course must be started in the government institutions and make the minimum qualification of a pharmacist in the retail pharmacy as B Pharm instead of D Pharm. “If we want to be a developed country then we need to follow the process happening in developed countries”, he added.
• Suresh Gupta, general secretary of AIOCD, while attending a meeting in Kerala recently, said shortage of qualified pharmacists in north Indian states is a burning issue and a concrete solution to the problem is inevitable. He said in the rural areas of UP and Bihar, no pharmacy is working as the licensing authorities are not issuing licences due to lack of applications by qualified pharmacists. He said,  to resolve this crisis, his association leaders held discussion with the government and a solution will be out soon.

Aiocds proposal, refresher course, welcomed, supported