Need to adopt focused approach to impart best pharmacy education: MoS Health

New Delhi, March 6 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Health Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar on Monday underlined the need to adopt focused approach to impart the best pharmacy education in line with the latest developments.

"It is the need of the hour to change our gears and adopt a focused approach to impart the best pharmacy education keeping our curriculum in line with the latest developments in the field and also provide extensive education of specialized drugs so as to benefit the reach of pharmacists in the country," she said in her address at the inauguration of Pharma Anveshan-2023 on the occasion of National Pharmacy Education Day.

The event was organised with a vision of providing a platform for sharing the academic research with industry to exchange the benefits of research outcomes between academia and industry.

"A pharmacist is just as important as doctors and nurses in helping patients get treated for diseases and other health concerns. Pharmacists know the science of medicine in and out. By educating a patient and making sure their prescription is safe to take with their other health conditions and medications, pharmacists improve their quality of life and possibly even save a life," Pawar said, adding that pharmacists played a vital role in maintaining the supply chain of essential medicines during Covid.

Accentuating on the future healthcare landscape need, she underlined the pivotal role of pharmacists in the future of healthcare, evolving beyond dispensing medicines and becoming an essential part of the healthcare team. "Patient counselling and maintaining patient medical history can also be our focus area for better utilisation of medicines and reducing adverse events. Doing so will help reduce the cost of treatment, she said.

She said that the world trusts India today and this earned trust has garnered India the title of 'Pharmacy of the World'. It is important to ensure that the drugs manufactured in the country and consumed by international consumers are of high quality and comply with standard global manufacturing protocols, she stressed.

"This can be done by producing better quality generic medicines, medical devices in the country and by increasing Research & Development (R & D), innovation and production capacity," she added.

The PCI also signed an MoU with the Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers Association (KDPMA), the Life Sciences Sector Skill Development Council (under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) (LSSSDC), the Indian Pharma Alliance (IPA), and the Federation of Pharma Entrepreneurs (FOPE) to reduce the gap of industry and academia, strengthen faculty and student training and promote entrepreneurship and infrastructure development on the occasion.