KSRPA suggests govt to rename Pharmacy Act as National Pharmacy Commission Act
Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
Monday, April 10, 2023, 08:00 Hrs [IST]
The Karnataka State Registered Pharmacists Association (KSRPA) has suggested to the government that the Pharmacy Act, 1948 should be renamed as National Pharmacy Commission Act, 2023. It should be revised in sync with the developments of the pharma sector.
According to the KSRPA, the Pharmacy Act, 1948 should be scraped and a new enactment on the lines of the National Medical Commission Act 2019 needs to be framed and also be known as the National Pharmacy Commission Act, 2023.
The Pharmacy Act 1948 was passed with the limited objective of making better provision for the regulation of the pharmacy profession through the constitution of pharmacy councils. It served well when compounder training course was the most commonly prevalent pharmacy education. Now there is a major transformation in the sector. The Act and its nomenclature needs revision, said Ashokswamy Heroor, president, KSRPA in his communication to the Union government.
Under Section 12 of the Act, the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has framed Education Regulations for Diploma in Pharmacy. There is no intention to revise it. Even under Section 16, the Executive Committee appoints Inspectors to evaluate the applicant institutions for approval. But there should be a responsible, permanent Council of experts for this purpose, rather than appointing an inspector for individual applications, he added.
The Pharmacy Councils cannot regulate the courses of B Pharma, M Pharm and doctorate of Pharmacy. Even the diploma in Pharmacy is now obsolete and already discontinued in most of the colleges. We need a Commission to update these and give the existing Act a new image, said Heroor.
There is also a need for an appropriate provision to impose penalty over the erring pharmacy institutions. This particularly with reference to the pharmacy college admissions.
There also should be an overall change with ample opportunity for in-service trainings and capacity building programs to all pharmacy professionals, including the teaching staff. Adequate research facilities, international student and faculty exchange programmes, latest developments in software etc. should be available, he noted.
With regard to the State Councils of Pharmacy elections are not conducted on time. There is no bar on contesting again in the election or for re-nomination or re- appointment. Same set of people continue in different capacities. The process of election is very old, cumbersome, expensive and not fool proof. This is detrimental to the pharmacy profession itself. Hence, there is a need to shift to electronic voting machines instead of issuing a ballot paper.
Another serious lapse on the part of the State Councils is their failure to appointment Inspectors under Section 26A, to effectively enforce Sections 41 to 43. Further, whenever the Councils face financial crunch, registration fees is enhanced without any amendment to the relevant rules as per Sec 46(1). There is no responsible authority to redress these grievances of the Registered Pharmacists, said Heroor. *Pharmabiz weekly
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