Minister for Health K.K. Shylaja will formally inaugurate the 30th State conference of the Kerala Private Pharmacists Association at Hassan Marikkar Hall at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
The two-day conference began on Tuesday with the election of State and other committees of the association.
Mayor V.K. Prasanth, who is also the chairman of the welcome committee, will preside over the inaugural. Galileo George, association general secretary, will welcome the gathering.
The valedictory function will be inaugurated by Minister for Excise T.P. Ramakrishnan in the afternoon. V.S. Sivakumar, MLA, will preside over the function.
The conference will raise important issues such as opening drug testing laboratories in all districts, appointment of more pharmacists in medical stores that remain open for more than 8 hours and at hospitals, ensure distribution of medicines only through pharmacists, and include drug literacy in the school curriculum.
At a press conference here on Tuesday, the association office-bearers said testing of drugs was not taking place in the State as there were only two drug testing laboratories in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam. This had caused serious health issues among the people. The conference would highlight this issue. The association would also seek appointment of clinical pharmacists in the government sector.