PCI new notification ends confusion about status of pharmacy education and the profession

June 22, 2023

The professionals of pharmaceutical regulatory, industry and academia have welcomed the notification issued by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) on June 19 this year clarifying that pharmacy profession is an independent profession and it does not come under the paramedical profession.

Similarly, the pharmaceutical education and the pharmacy courses are not coming under paramedical education and they cannot be linked to paramedical groups because they have their own independent stance.

The professionals from various sectors of pharmacy observe that the national council’s notification regarding the status of pharmacy education and the profession ends all confusions and dilemmas that have been in existence since the beginning of the profession. A few years ago, with the ceasing of the AICTE’s role in regulating the pharmacy education, the pharmacy education has become purely a non-technical education and the profession based on the education has turned out to be an exclusive healthcare profession supporting healthcare management.
 
The PCI’s notification states that the pharmacy profession in the country is regulated by PCI which is a statutory body working under the ministry of health & family welfare, Government of India. The council is responsible for regulation of pharmacy education for the purpose of registration as pharmacist and practice of the profession of pharmacy in the country. So, the pharmacy profession does not come under the paramedical service.
 
The council also clarifies that the education programs being conducted by the PCI cannot be linked to para-medical education and can in no way clubbed with para-medical courses because the profession itself is an independent profession and does not come under the para-medical group.
 
Hailing the PCI for its notification, the national vice-president of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) and chairman of the regulatory division of the association, Dr. Subash Mondal has commented that all the confusions that have been continuing all these years have now ceased to exist. Talking to Pharmabiz, he said various associations including the IPA have given representations to the government of India demanding formation of a separate ministry for pharmaceuticals (MoPh) and bring the pharmacy education under it. He said the pharmacy profession, like other professions, is an independent profession and it enjoys a unique position in the healthcare sector. It has to be highlighted and made as a separate entity.
 
Dr. KG Revikumar, the pharmacy academic expert and former advisor to AICTE from Kerala has viewed the notification of the PCI as a good sign and opined that pharmacy profession is a healthcare profession and it has its own identity like medical profession or nursing profession or dentistry in the global level. He wanted the council to stress on its unique identity as an indispensable profession supporting the healthcare system. He said the terminology, ‘paramedical’, is in no way suitable to the pharmacy profession.
 
J Jayaseelan, chairman of the Tamil Nadu state board of the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (TN IDMA) has said that pharmacists are the professionals who handle medicines and dispense medicines. The profession is not part of paramedical professions. It is purely an independent profession based on pharmacy education which wholly supports all pharmaceutical innovations, he observed.

PHARMABIZ.com