Believe It Or Not - In Odisha바카라�s Public Health Centres, Pharmacists Fill In For Doctors!

Ignace Kujur can바카라�t understand what the fuss is about. Like most people in his area, this Adivasi from Dudukabahal village in Odisha바카라�s Sundargarh district goes to the pharmacist at the local public health centre (PHC) when anybody in the family falls ill. He sounds perplexed when told about the row over the Odisha government allowing pharmacists to treat 12 바카라�minor diseases바카라�, including malaria and respiratory tract infection, in the absence of doctors. 바카라�I cannot remember the last time I saw a doctor in the hospital. For us, the pharmacist is the doctor,바카라� he says.

Notified on September 21, the government바카라�s decision has evoked a mixed response from doctors and pharmacists. Most doctors see it as encroachment into their domain, though some say it would lighten the burden on overworked doctors, especially in government hospitals. Among those with reservations on the decision is Dr Siddharth Sahu, a consulting orthopaedic surgeon in Bhubaneswar. 바카라�Prescribing medicines is not as simple as it appears. Pharmacists are not trained in diagnosis and cannot handle complications related to medication,바카라� says Dr Sahu, adding there is no clarity on whether pharmacists would be trained first. Dr Narayan Rout, president of Odisha Medical Services Association (OMSA), however, points out that pharmacists have been all­owed to prescribe medicines for some diseases since 2003. 바카라�The recent order only adds a few more diseases to the list,바카라� he says. Indeed, pharmacists in rural PHCs have anyway been providing medicines to patients in the abs­ence of doctors.

Dr Rout바카라�s predecessor at OMSA, Dr Nirakar Bhatt, feels the government should focus on recruiting more doctors rather than entrusting their job to pharmacists. More than 1,300 of the 8,729 sanctioned doctors바카라� posts in the state are vacant, mostly in rural PHCs.

Like doctors, pharmacists too are div­ided on the issue. While one section welcomes the move, another is worried about the risks involved. 바카라�Many PHCs have one or no doctor. Poor pat­ients would be forced to buy medicines from the open market if pharmacists are not allowed to provide medicines from the government supply,바카라� says Naveen Mohapatra, president of the Odisha Pharmacists바카라� Service Association. But Dr. Mihir Kumar Kar, coordinator of the Odisha Pharmacy Intellectual Forum, fears the government move could lead to a spate of cases against pharmacists under the Medical Negligence Act in case something goes wrong. 바카라�Pharmacists run the risk of being hauled up in case there is an adverse reaction to a medicine. They need immunity from prosecution,바카라� he says.

(This appeared in the print edition as "My Doctor, The Chemist")

By Sandeep Sahu in Bhubaneswar