New Delhi, July 9 (IANS) The pharmacy sector should plan and equip itself for the future demands, President Pratibha Patil said Friday.
‘The pharmacy council should plan for future requirements of pharmacists, taking into consideration the demands of healthcare landscape,’ Patil said after inaugurating a seminar on pharmacy education and practice.
‘There will be growing lifestyle disorders that will gain considerable significance. The role for specialised pharmacy knowledge in these areas will be important,’ she said.
Stating that India ranked third in volume of production and 13th in value of production of medicines, Patil said the future opportunities in the field of pharmacy was immense in India.
‘PricewaterhouseCoopers in its recent report has estimated that around $70 billion worth of drugs will go off patent in the US. India is capable of taking a substantial share of that,’ she said.
The president underlined the need to promote the indigenous medicine systems.
‘We should draw on the rich resource of our indigenous knowledge of medicines and its potential must be tapped. Greater focus is required to propagate its efficacy,’ she added.
