President calls for constant revision of pharmacy education

President Pratibha Patil at the National Seminar on ‘Recent Trends in Pharmacy Education and Practice’, in New Delhi on July 09, 2010. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ghulam Nabi Azad is also seen.

President Pratibha Patil today urged the Pharmacy Council of India to plan for future requirements of pharmacists in the country, taking into consideration the demands of the healthcare landscape.

"Pharmacy education should be constantly revised and updated to meet tomorrow's challenges," she said in her inaugural address at a national seminar on "Recent Trends in Pharmacy Education and Practice."

She said that, with growing inter-linkages in the world, international standards must be maintained and the curriculum should include a section on global trends and best practices.

Educators will also need to develop a culture conducive to inquiry and research, because so much in medicine and pharmacy is yet to be discovered, she said.

Ms Patil also called for constant interaction between pharmacy institutions, educational institutions and various stakeholders - healthcare practitioners, academic centres and pharmaceutical companies to give students the required exposure.

"Professional ethics, values and code of conduct are key factors to be taught. Due emphasis must be given to these aspects," she said.

"The common goal of the health sector, pharmaceutical industries and the pharmaceutical profession, should be to protect the well-being of patients in all parts of the world," she emphasised.

Ms Patil said pharmacists provided a vital connect between the health sciences and the pharmaceutical world. Their work in the medical field has become multifaceted, extending from the manufacturing of quality medicines, to the delivery of pharmaceutical care to patients, she said.

The President said the Indian pharmaceutical industry had grown from a meager turnover of $ 0.32 billion in 1980 to about $ 21.3 billion in 2009-10 and was poised to grow at compounded annual growth rate of 19 percent.

India globally ranks 3rd in terms of volume of production and 13th by value of production, she said.

"Our pharma companies meet a large part of the domestic requirements of medicine, which by 2020 are expected to rise to approximately $ 50 billion. It is also noteworthy that Indian companies are amongst the world leaders in the production of generics," she said.

Quoting a report which said that around $ 70 billion worth of drugs were expected to go off patent in the United States over the next three years, she said India was capable of taking a substantial share of the resulting generics opportunities.

Ms Patil said the pharma industry also had to respond to the emerging patterns of diseases and to growing concerns about disease-causing agents becoming resistant to existing drugs.

"This necessitates new drugs, requiring increased focus on research and development including in the newer frontiers of medicine like bio-technology. Clinical trials to establish the safety and effectiveness of drugs constitute an important part of R&D work," she said.

She pointed out that India had a pool of skilled workforce of high managerial and technical competence, and several multi-national pharma companies were increasingly making India their R&D and Clinical Research hub on account of its skilled manpower and competitive costs.

"I also believe that, we should draw on the rich resource of our indigenous knowledge of medicine and bring these into broader usage. India has much to offer the world in terms of alternative medicine and its potential must be tapped. Greater focus is required in this regard to propagate its efficacy," she said.

The President said the demand for pharmacists would increase and they would be required in larger numbers for work related to the discovery, design, development and manufacture of medicines to ensure the quality, safety and efficiency of medicinal products and even their cost effectiveness, so as to achieve optimal therapeutic outcomes and quality of life for patients.

She said the Pharmacy Council should work towards creating awareness about the very important role of a pharmacist in the well-being and health of an individual.

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that a National Pharmacists Day would be declared soon to give recognition to the role played by them in the delivery of healthcare.

He also announced that a national award would be instituted for pharmacists on the lines of the B C Roy Award for Doctors and the Florence Nightingale Award for nurses.

NNN