Unqualified pharmacists cram Imphal
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, April 16 2011:
Many pharmacies are being run without requisite qualifications of having completed Diploma in Pharmacy or Bachelor in Pharmacy.
An official source in the Directorate of Health Services said that under the Pharmacy Act 1948, pharmacies should be opened under supervisors who have completed either D Pharm or B Pharm.
But in many pharmacies, there are no qualified supervisors often leading to prescription/sale of wrong drugs.
Nevertheless, Drug Inspectors of the directorate has started taking up stringent actions to ensure that all the pharmacies have at least one qualified supervisor.
As a part of the new initiative, renewal of licences for pharmacies have begun.
It has been made mandatory for renewal of licence to submit names of qualified supervisors who has completed either D Pharm or B Pharm.
In the first phase, efforts are underway to ensure that all the pharmacies located in Imphal East and Imphal West districts take at least one qualified supervisor each.
Noting that there are many pharmacists who are well experienced in their trade on account of long years of service though they do not possess requisite certificates, the source said there is no plan at present to make qualified supervisors mandatory in pharmacies at Bishnupur district, Thoubal district and hill areas.
It is not feasible at present to make qualified supervisors mandatory for all the pharmacies of Manipur.
Nevertheless, number of people who have completed D Pharm and B Pharm have been steadily rising in the last few years.
Once this new initiative of keeping qualified supervisors in all pharmacies in Imphal East and Imphal West is completed, Drug Inspectors would conduct spot verification to check whether or not the pharmacies have appointed qualified supervisors.
Even as there are reports of marketing sub-standard drugs in Manipur, there is no wherewhital to check it.
The department has no facility to analyse or test any drug suspected to be sub-standard or spurious.
Moreover, intelligence or surveillance works are also not very successful, added the source.