National Pharmacy Week is observed in the third week of November every year to recognize and acknowledge the vital role played by pharmacists in the healthcare setting. The theme of this year’s celebrations was – Join Pharmacists To Ensure Patient Safety. The National Pharmacy Week Celebrations 2023 of Amrita School of Pharmacy rose to a crescendo with a final day Certificate Awarding Ceremony for Orientation to Pharma Industry (OPI) 2023 and Welcoming the New Students to Indian Pharmaceutical Association-Student Forum (IPA-SF) Amrita Student Chapter. The program was conjointly organized with the IPA Kerala State Branch on November 23, 2023.
The chief guest for the day was Sri. E.A. Subramanian, Managing Director, Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceutical Ltd. and the guest of honor was Sri. Geo Jose, Industries Extension Officer, Department of Industries and Commerce, Government of Kerala. The other distinguished guests included Dr. P. Jayasekhar, President, Indian Pharmaceutical Association-Kerala State Branch; Sri. Santhosh K. Mathew, Assistant Drugs Controller, Ernakulam Zone; Sri. P.K. Harikumar, Convener, Industry Forum, IPA & Former Senior Manager KSDPL, Alappuzha; Ms. Jooly Kurien, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics, Lisie College of Pharmacy, Kochi; Mr. M.P. George, Vice President, IPA Kerela State Branch; and Dr. John Joseph, Secretary, IPA Kerala State Branch.
The program commenced with the welcome address by Dr. Sabitha M., Principal, Amrita School of Pharmacy where she welcomed all the esteemed guests for the day and accompanied them to the dais. During her address, she also emphasized on the importance of ensuring patient safety and how careful and competent a pharmacy professional should become in providing quality services to the patient.
Sri. E.A. Subramanian, Managing Director, Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceutical Ltd., in his inaugural address stated that during the last three or four decades the focus has been shifted from hospital pharmacy to industrial pharmacy right from research & development, drug discovery, drug formulation, manufacturing, quality control, testing and analysis of the drug products, regulatory affairs, business development and marketing and in the coming years there will be more job opportunities in pharma industry.
The presidential address was delivered by Dr. P. Jayasekhar, President, Indian Pharmaceutical Association-Kerala State Branch. He pointed out that nearly 70 percent of the generic drugs are produced in India at an affordable cost. He also elaborated on the role an educational institution has to play in transforming students to competent pharmacists.
Sri. P. K. Harikumar, Convener, Industry Forum, IPA & Former Senior Manager KSDPL, Alappuzha, gave an overview of Orientation to Pharma Industry. “In Kerala, during earlier times, it was very difficult to get training in pharma industry. Today, with the efforts of IPA, students are fortunate to interact with industry experts. These experts can exchange their views and advices to the new generation which are very much accepted and appreciated by the participants,” he said.
The Guest of Honor of the program was Mr. Geo Jose, Industries Extension Officer, Department of Industries and Commerce, Government of Kerala. In his address, he gave an awareness about the various incentive schemes, finance and marketing assistance offered by the government to start a new enterprise in the pharmacy sector.
The National Pharmacy Week message was delivered by Sri. Santhosh K. Mathew, Assistant Drugs Controller, Ernakulam Zone. A report on National Pharmacy Week celebration in Kerala by IPA was presented by Dr. John Joseph, Secretary, IPA Kerala State Branch. This was followed by certificate distribution for OPI training and the winners of several competitions held as part of National Pharmacy Week 2023. OPI commenced with a webinar series followed by one-month hands-on-training. The certificate of training with credit points and merit certificate for the 5 best performers were distributed.
An excellent and rewarding feedback was given by the students on the OPI training expressing their appreciation and gratitude for the professional commitment of IPA Kerala State Branch for their commendable initiative. An induction of IPA-SF new members was conducted by Dr. Sreeja C. Nair, Assistant Professor and faculty advisor of IPA-SF Amrita Student Chapter, Amrita School of Pharmacy; Ms. Jooly Kurien, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics, Lisie College of Pharmacy, Kochi and Mr. M.P. George, Vice President, IPA Kerela State Branch.
Two skit performances on the topic “Join Pharmacist To Ensure Patient Safety” and drug abuse were performed by Pharm.D 4th and 5th year students of Amrita School of Pharmacy respectively. This was followed by the vote of thanks and later on induction of first year students to IPA-SF and a session on Emotional Quotient was conducted by Mr. M.P. George. During the session, the IPA-SF Amrita Chapter Students who underwent the leadership training program of IPA Kerala State Branch took classes on – Prevention of Drug Abuse and Snakebite Awareness: Discerning the Myths and Fact.
As a part of National Pharmacy Week Celebrations 2023, the third-year, fourth-year and fifth-year Pharm. D students, interns and M.Pharm students displayed posters in the Atrium of Amrita Hospital, Kochi on November 22, 2023. The topics of poster presentations were allopathic drug interactions with other systems of medicine, infection prevention, safe practices after surgery, elderly patient care, pharmacist in rational drug use (OTC), errors in confusing drugs (LASA), antibiotic resistance, infection control and patient safety in using blood thinners. The skit on the topic “Join Pharmacist To Ensure Patient Safety” was also performed by the students of fourth-year Pharm.D in the atrium.
