PCI for end to dual control of pharmacy education

Dual control of pharmacy education in India should go for the healthy growth of pharmacy as a profession in the health care system, said Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) president B. Suresh here on Thursday.

Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the two-day annual conference of Indian Hospital Pharmacists’ Association (IHPA) here, he said there was a proposal to bring pharmacy education under the exclusive control of PCI.

Prof. Suresh, who is the Vice-Chancellor of JSS University (Mysore), said pharmacy colleges were now under the control of PCI as well as the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).

Dual control had led to confusion notwithstanding the fact that there was a phenomenal growth in institutions that teach pharmacy across the country.

The importance of the profession was also growing manifold. "It creates lot of complications when pharmacy education is being regulated by both the AICTE, which is under the Ministry of Human Resources Development and the PCI, which is under the Ministry of Health," he said, advocating suitable amendment in the Pharmacy Act, 1948, to bring pharmacy education under the PCI.

"A pharmacist plays a key role in early detection of a disease when a patient visits a medical shop. It is his responsibility to motivate the patient to consult a physician. A pharmacist helps in avoiding over-prescription and duplication in the use of drugs," he said. Quoting a study, he said 35 per cent of diseases are drug-induced mainly due to side effects. The importance of a pharmacist's role should be recognised by all," he said.

At present, pharmacy colleges are under the control of PCI as well as AICTE

There is a proposal to bring them under the exclusive control of PCI, says its chief
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