“As the pharmacy practice lacked patient care, a primary focus was needed on the developing an adequate and appropriate healthcare workforce,” Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Vice-Chancellor, Dr. S. Geethalakshmi, said here on Saturday.

Speaking at the second convention of the Indian Association of the Colleges of Pharmacy and Indian Congress of Pharmacy Practice 2016, Geethalakshmi urged the head of Pharmacy departments to provide young pharmacists expertise in clinical practice.

Several nations were introducing, expanding or undertaking major reforms in pharmacy practice, but in spite of advances in technology, physicians have patient overload than ever before, she said.

“The Indian Pharmaceutical industry currently tops the chart amongst India’s science based industries and meets around 70 per cent of country’s demand for pharmaceutical products and ranks very high in terms of technology, quality and range of medicines manufactured. It

is the world’s third-largest in terms of volume,” Geethalakshmi said.

In spite of the Government introducing a host of reforms towards improving access to public health care, there were still challenges in healthcare delivery in India, she said.

Pharmacy profession should educate pharmacists to provide patient-centred care and integrate and provide services for safe drug preparation and distribution, collaborative drug therapy management and medication reconciliation.

However, most practice competencies were developed through a dynamic interplay between curricular components and practical application, and solely developed only in the experiential learning environment. Providing a basis for determining optimal ways to position pharmacists to help patients achieve the best use of medicines should be the ultimate goal, she said.

Pharmacy Council of India President Dr. B. Suresh in his address spoke about shifting the focus of pharmacy profession from product-oriented to patient-oriented.

The pharmacist should look for supporting rather than substituting anybody in the health care team, which could be done by engaging the physicians, nurses, policy makers and administrators, Dr. Suresh said.