Aizawl: Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) is mulling to establish a pharmacy skill development centre in Mizoram, PCI president Dr. Montu Kumar M Patel said on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference here, Patel said that he met state health minister Lalrinpuii on Wednesday and apprised her of the PCI’s interest in establishing the centre in Aizawl.
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He said that the PCI will establish a pharmacy skill development centre if the state government provides land for the project.
Patel expressed concern about the alleged gross violation of the Pharmacy Act, 1948, by pharmacies in Mizoram.
He said that section 42 of the act states that only a registered pharmacist can compound, prepare, mix, and dispense medicine from a pharmacy or medicine shop on the prescription of a medical practitioner.
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Citing that the system has not been followed on a large scale in Mizoram since long ago, Patel called for the immediate implementation of the Pharmacy Act as well as Mizoram’s pharmacy practice regulation, 2015, which was notified in August 2023.
There are more than 1,000 registered pharmacists in Mizoram, according to the Mizoram State Pharmacy Council.
Patel urged the state government to immediately fill 97 pharmacist vacant posts. He said that there are 122 pharmacist sanction posts under the state government, out of which only 25 have been filled so far.
He further urged the government to fill 7 vacant posts of drug control officers under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate drugs and curb the rising drug abuse in the state.
Patel also called on the state Governor VK Singh on Thursday, and both discussed issues related to pharmacy.