Jaipur: The Indian Pharmacists Association (IPA) has written to Union Health Minister JP Nadda demanding that pharmacists be considered independent healthcare professionals.
In the letter to the health minister, Sarveshwar Sharma, state president of IPA, said that on June 13, 2023, the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) issued an order clarifying that pharmacists are not paramedical staff but independent healthcare professionals.
"Despite this, pharmacists are still being put in the paramedical category, thereby misrepresenting their role. The association strongly opposes this misclassification and demands the central government to grant the status of independent healthcare professionals to pharmacists at the earliest," he said.
Sharma said that pharmacists receive "high-level education and play an important role in healthcare" with their responsibilities including pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacology, drug manufacturing, medication therapy management, patient counseling, clinical pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, drug development, community healthcare, public health vaccination programs, antimicrobial resistance, and pharmacovigilance.
"The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also recognised pharmacists as independent healthcare professionals. In countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, pharmacists are considered primary healthcare providers," he said.
Sharma said that in India too, the government should create a separate directorate for pharmacists and implement independent policies for them by removing them from the paramedical category. In addition, the government should ensure the direct participation of pharmacists in national health programmes to improve the quality of health services, he added.
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