Knowledge empowerment of pharmacist would drive to achieve Pharma Vision 2020

Thursday, December 19, 2013, 16:40 Hrs  [IST]

Karnataka State Pharmacy Council (KSPC) has been at the forefront of pharmacy trade profession. From the organizing several people-oriented programmes like educating public on various diseases and their management by conducting workshops and seminars, to introduction of online registration, renewal of licences for pharmacists and investing in LED (light emitting diode) display in Bengaluru city, the Council has been leading from the front. The latest is that the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), through its Education Regulation Committee, has gone in for the revision of the D Pharm syllabus. The Committee has approved the KSPC's newsletters, which are seen as informative and educative reference books for the new syllabus of D Pharm. In an interaction with Nandita Vijay of Chronicle Pharmabiz, DA Gundu Rao, president of KSPC, elaborates about 65th IPC 2013 - 'Pharma Vision 2020: Empowering the Pharmacist': Excerpts:

Over Charging of Life-Saving Drugs by Sellers

New Delhi, 10 Dec 2013 (PIB): The term “Life saving drugs” is not recognized under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and rules made thereunder. However, the Government has published a National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2011 containing 348 medicines. The primary purpose of NLEM is to promote rational use of medicines considering the three important aspects i.e. cost, safety and efficacy. NLEM is one of the key instruments in balanced healthcare delivery systems of the country which includes accessible, affordable quality medicines at all the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of healthcare. Pricing of drugs is administered by the Department of Pharmaceutical and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) under the provisions of the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO). The Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules made thereunder administered by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare do not contain provisions for pricing of drugs. Government in that Department has notified the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy and the Drugs Price Control Order, 2013 to regulate the prices of essential medicines. This was stated by Shri. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister for Heath and Family Welfare, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today.

Pharmacists urge DCGI to issue clarifications on Schedule H1 to avoid misinterpretation

Mumbai, 19 Dec 2013: Pharmacists across the country have expressed huge concern over the lack of clarity in the recently published gazette notification on Schedule H1, which deals with regulating the use of antibiotics in the country. Raj Vaidya, a community pharmacist, points out that there are lot of gray areas in the notification that needs to be clarified so as to avoid complications arising due to misinterpretation of some clauses by different persons or authorities.

Blood banks can't charge more than rates fixed by NBTC: Gujarat High Court

Ahmedabad, 1 Dec 2013: Soon, blood banks in Gujarat will be able to sell bloods to public only at the rate fixed by National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC). They will also be obliged to give free blood to patients suffering from thalassemia and haemophilia. The Gujarat High Court in its landmark judgement on blood banks on Saturday made it clear that it would be the duty of the state government to appoint sufficient number of inspectors to ensure that rules for running of blood banks are strictly complied with as per the National Blood Policy.

80% of medicines not covered by price control order

New Delhi, 1 Dec 2013: About 38 million people in India (which is more than Canada's population) fall below the poverty line every year due to healthcare expenses, of which 70% is on purchase of drugs. Yet, the much-awaited drug price control order (DPCO) 2013, meant to control the price of medicines does not cover over 80% of the medicines in the market. Many drugs crucial for India's disease profile have been left out, which means people are unlikely to see any significant reduction in expenditure on medicines.

Press Conference................