The Indian Pharmaceutical industry has travelled a long way from being an industry that almost did not exist before 1970 to become an important provider of healthcare products now, satisfying almost 95 per cent of the country’s pharma needs. The pharmaceutical industry is in the lead of the countries science based industries, with huge competencies in the complicated area of drug manufacturing and technology. The industry enjoys a high rank among the developing nations in areas such as technology, quality, and type and number of medicines manufactured. From simple analgesics to complex antibiotics and drugs for heart related disorders, almost all kind of drug is now produced in the country.

While playing a significant role in encouraging and sustaining development in the important field of drugs, the Indian pharmaceutical sector claims to be e quality producer and many of the drug manufacturing firms has been approved by the bodies in the United States and the United Kingdom. Multinational companies operating in the industry has energized, helped and spearheaded this dynamic development in the past 53 years and has been successful in placing India on the pharma map of the world. The industry has been gaining momentum over the years across the world.

Changing role of Pharmacist

In any health system, the pharmacist has a very important role to play since they are responsible for offering solution related to medication. The fast expansion and diversification of the industry, along with the growth of the health sector has opened up huge opportunities for the pharmacist. The increasing opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry have called for a careful look into the manpower resources for the pharmacy sector. The range of pharmacy profession is very large in the country, since it encompasses a large number of opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry including R&D, production, healthcare sector, pharmacy education, and regulatory bodies. The availability of pharmacy professionals in the country in the present day is in par with that of the western countries. This observation is made based on the ratio of the pharmacists to the population. But in reality this does not seem to right as the real number is likely to be much lower due to migration, death, retirement, and pursuing career in other professions which are related to pharmacy such as industrial, regulatory, marketing, etc.

The need for pharmacy professionals is increasing with the growth of the industry inside the country and with the increase in outsourcing from other countries. The major factors contributing to the growth of the industry are outsourced research for pharma research and development and outsourced manufacturing for pharma companies across the world. This calls for the increase in need for professionals with knowledge in national and international regulatory affairs.  The retail sector is experiencing growth as a result of the entry of major retail chains. The increase of spending on healthcare in the country at about 12 % every year will influence the availability and the demand for drugs, which will result in a direct impact on the need for pharmacy professionals. The decrease in the supply of pharmacists in the western countries such as the United States, UK, etc and the highly rewarding opportunities will lead to migration of pharmacists from our country to such countries. This increases the probability of institutions in India getting recognized by the regulatory bodies in other countries. This will further increase the need of pharmacists from India.

The traditional vs. modern role of pharmacist

The profession is now in a state of transition. There has been a complete change in the delivery pattern of healthcare and has now attained a new image than what it used to have traditionally. Today, pharmacy does not just mean dispensing of medication, but with providing relevant information on drugs and drug therapy recommendations to the people in the society. The technological advancements and the information explosion has have increased the knowledge and quality level. As a result they ready to take big responsibilities with utmost sincerity and dedication. Now the role of pharmacist is changing on a continuous basis and is being redefined as time passes with the changes and this is the reason why the bond between a pharmacist and society is becoming stronger as days pass.

The major factors which are responsible for the increase in influence of pharmacists in the society are as follows:-

Importance of care to patients - Pharmacists have now started to focus on patient care after pharma care had been made a practice giving importance to the patients in the healthcare sector. This has become a challenge for the professionals as they have to change their focus from product to patients. Pharma care takes care of the patients’ drug related requirements with the help of a schedule. This ensures that a drug therapy is properly recorded, safe and convenient.

Shaping the medication use system - The pharmacists are responsible for the redesigning the medication use system to prevent adverse outcome due to drug therapy. They are also responsible for determining the well functioning models and to develop strategies to develop and introduce additional models.

Continuing professional development - The professional attitude for pharmacists is an important requirement to make their profession important for the society. A pharmacist must be updated on the changes happening in the pharmacy practices and thus establish his or her competence and effectiveness.

Maintain code of ethics - The professionals must maintain code of ethics which will help them to make the profession a noble one in the society.

The source of information should be authentic - The pharmacists must provide correct information to the people and so the source should be authentic.

Pharmacy education

A diploma in pharmacy will lead the way to secure a graduate degree in pharmacy. Interested candidates can pursue fulltime regular programmes or go for part time programmes. In order to meet the requirements of the industry and healthcare sector, the courses should be offered separately as B Pharm- Industrial and B Pharm- Healthcare. The curriculum should be redesigned to meet the requirements of both industrial as well as healthcare settings.

There should be benchmarks established for evaluating the performance of the professionals based on their competency and the level of service. The levels should be published in order to make the people aware of the expectations from a professional.