Hyderabad: Pharmacists are now eligible to work in state and central government hospitals, following the amendments in the Pharmacy Act by the Union ministry of health and family welfare.
The ministry has carried out amendments and regulations called Pharmacy Practice Amendment Regulations 2021. The demand had been raised by pharmacists from 2015.
They had pleaded that central and state government hospitals must have a clinical pharmacists department so that the medication dosage, antibiotic use, adverse effects of medicines and dispensation could be monitored.
The department would assist the physicians in explaining to patients on the proper method of taking medicines. Often doctors ask patients to come back with the medicines to the hospital and explain the complete dosage regime which is a time consuming activity for them.
Dr Saikumar Katam, president of the Doctor of Pharmacy Association, says, "India accounts for a whopping 5.2 million injuries annually with medication errors and adverse drug reactions. The need is to detect and manage adverse drug reactions, assisting physicians in individualizing the drug dosage regimen. There is an immense variety of medications in the market and clinical pharmacists become an essential resource."
Clinical pharmacists are appointed in the private sector in the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers certified hospitals.
Dr BK Reddy, senior pharmacist, explained, "We are now going to work with the state governments and stress that these posts are created and recruitment carried out according to these amendments. Clearance by the Union health ministry is a huge step as state governments will now have to comply."
They are mandated in these hospitals as certification demands of them to address issues of adverse reactions and report this to the Union health ministry. There are 224 pharmacy colleges of which 58 are in Telangana and 59 are in Andhra Pradesh. Some 36,000 students passed out till date from these colleges.
