Thousands of Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) graduates have been asking the government to create clinical pharmacist and drug information specialist cadre in the State-run hospitals and also release the report of the Expert Committee formed by the government in 2015 to study the issue.
The Pharma Doctor Welfare Association (PDWA) has submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in this regard and said the course was designed to specifically provide pharmaceutical care to patients in the changing times. In fact, the course was designed and introduced based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Pharmacy Council of India (PCI).
Banoth Chandrasekhar Nayak, president of PDWA, said there were 5,800 PharmD graduates since the first batch passed out in 2014 after the six-year course was introduced in 2008. Another 18,000 are pursuing the course in about 65 colleges in the State. “All these are waiting for opportunities and the government has to create jobs for them in both the private and government sectors realising the changing nature of drug use and also to stop its abuse,” he said.
“PharmD doctors are clinical pharmacists and their role is well defined in developed countries. Their main role is to review prescriptions, analyse medication errors and monitor adverse drug reactions to reduce drug burden through precise medication,” said Manoj Kumar, a fourth-year PharmD student.
The importance of these specialists was more relevant in Telangana where quacks were running the show in rural areas endangering the lives of millions of people. Even the urban sanitation and dumping areas were hazardous creating new diseases. “To control the new-age diseases, these specialists are all the more important,” said R. Ajay Suraj, a graduate.
In fact, the government constituted a committee consisting of Director of Medical Education, Director of Drugs Control Administration and President of Telangana State Pharmacy Council to study and analyse the experiences of the Government of India in creation of jobs and career opportunities for these graduates.
‘Release the report’
Though the committee was formed in August 2015, it has failed to submit its report, much to the disappointment of thousands of graduates. “We want the government to release the report at the earliest,” said the students and graduates.
