Pharmacy is a versatile, dynamic, growing & increasingly diverse profession, one which creates an excitement because there are so many opportunities for service. Pharmacists are health care professionals whose professional responsibilities include seeking to insure that people derive maximum therapeutic benefits from there treatments with medicines. Pharmacists represents the third largest health care professional group in the world and in India there are more than 10,00,000 (Ten Lakh) registered pharmacists working in various positions contributing to the health of the nation. Pharmacy being a very important profession, the govt. of India pass the Pharmacy Act 1948, to control the pharmacy profession as well as education in 1948, to control the manufacturing, distribution & sales etc Drugs & Cosmetics Act 1940 with rule 1945 was passed. Pharmacist for better healthcare team under the Pharma Vision 2020 was the slogan given by my when I was the President of IPCA 2010 at Manipal. Pharmacists are one of the faces of health where every patient or health care professionals meet at some point of time. Pharmacy in real sense is Pharmacy Practice which includes; Clinical, Community & Hospital Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Care. Pharmacist forms a vital link between Doctors, Nurses & the Patients in the health care team with the ultimate goal of Patient welfare & Patient safety. They have been looked upon mere drug dispensers. These pharmacists plays a major role in enhancing health care as they work day & night to maintain a chain of supply of Drugs, Now these pharmacists cannot be just dispensers since they have to provide value added services like patient counseling and provision of drug information to health care providers and patients.
