Establish National Pharmacy Commission (NPC) 2026 to Protect Patient Safety and Modernize Pharmacy Practice in India

Initiated by: Dr Swaroop Banothu, Doctor of Pharmacy (India)

🔴 URGENT: Why this concerns every patient and every family in India

Every day in India, crores of people buy medicines, give medicines to their parents and children, and receive treatment in hospitals trusting that the systems behind these medicines are safe.

But very few people know that today:

• many neighbourhood pharmacies operate without a pharmacist physically present
• pharmacy licences are often rented and misused
• prescription medicines are dispensed by untrained staff
• and hospitals increasingly use the term “clinical pharmacy” without any nationally enforced clinical qualification or credentialing standard
This means patients cannot verify who is qualified, who is trained, and who is accountable.
This is not a professional debate.
This is a public safety issue.

Medicines are powerful, high-risk interventions. When regulation is weak and roles are unclear, the risk is not theoretical — it is real.

⚠️ The professional regulation problem behind this public risk
India currently does not have a modern, practice-focused national pharmacy governance framework that clearly defines:
• who is qualified to deliver clinical pharmacy services
• what clinical training is mandatory
• how competence is verified
• how often licences are revalidated
• and how violations are detected and punished

As a result:
• licence-rent culture survives
• absentee pharmacists flourish
• hospitals invent clinical roles
• titles are diluted
• and patient protection becomes inconsistent.

This is a regulatory vacuum.
🎯 What this petition asks for
This petition urges the Government of India to initiate national pharmacy governance reform by restructuring the current system into a National Pharmacy Commission (NPC) that separates:

• education oversight
• professional practice standards
• independent inspection and enforcement
• ethics, registration, and credentialing
with patient safety as the central mandate.

✍️ Why your signature matters
Your signature helps demonstrate that:
• the public cares about medicine safety
• healthcare professionals want clarity and accountability
• and India needs modern pharmacy regulation, not outdated frameworks.
This petition will be formally submitted to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and relevant policy bodies to seek structured reform

🔍 Why this petition

I am a Doctor of Pharmacy graduate concerned about patient safety and the rapidly growing regulatory grey zone in Indian pharmacy practice.

India’s medication-use ecosystem has changed radically. Modern healthcare involves complex drug regimens, biologics, high-risk medicines, antimicrobial resistance, chronic disease management, and technology-driven care models.

However, India still lacks a nationally enforced clinical pharmacy governance framework defining:

• who is clinically trained

• how competence is verified

• what titles are legally protected

• and how pharmacy services are safely delivered

This vacuum has created systemic failures at both the community pharmacy level and the hospital clinical pharmacy level.

This petition proposes a comprehensive reform framework — NPC 2026 — focused on patient safety, professional accountability, and healthcare system modernization.

 

🚨 The real problems this petition addresses

🏪 A. Community pharmacy crisis

• Widespread licence-rent culture and proxy pharmacists

• Absentee pharmacists despite legal mandates

• Unqualified persons dispensing prescription medicines

• Uncontrolled sale of Schedule H/H1/X drugs

• Antimicrobial misuse and public-health risk

• Minimum area and storage standards bypassed

• Paper-based and compromised inspections

As a result, many pharmacies function as retail shops instead of healthcare facilities, undermining the very purpose of pharmacy regulation.

 

🏥 B. Clinical pharmacy grey zone

• “Clinical pharmacy” posts offered to B.Pharm and M.Pharm graduates without structured clinical training

• No national clinical competency framework

• No credentialing or privileging standards

• No protected clinical titles

• Hospitals invent clinical roles in a regulatory vacuum

• Patients cannot verify who is clinically trained

Clinical pharmacy has become a job title rather than a verified patient-care qualification.

 

🏛️ C. Governance failure

• No effective separation between education, practice standards, inspection, and ethics

• NABH focuses on medication systems, not professional competence

• Weak enforcement allows both licence renting and clinical misuse

India does not merely face a professional debate — it faces a pharmacy governance crisis.

 

🏛️ NPC 2026 — National Pharmacy Commission Reform Framework

We propose restructuring pharmacy governance into a modern National Pharmacy Commission (NPC) with independent statutory boards.

 

🏫 1. National Pharmacy Education Board (NPEB)

Academic governance of pharmacy education, curricula, faculty standards, institutional accreditation, Pharm.D training site approval, and national competency benchmarks.

🏥 2. National Pharmacy Practice & Patient Safety Board (NPPPSB)

The core reform body responsible for:

• national pharmacy practice standards

• clinical pharmacy scope definitions

• protected professional titles

• medication-safety frameworks

• prescribing authority rules

• inter-professional boundaries

• hospital and community pharmacy service standards

🏭 3. National Pharmaceutical Professional Board (NPPB)

Governance of pharmaceutical industry, pharmacovigilance, regulatory affairs, QA/QC, medical affairs, and research-oriented practice pathways.

🕵️ 4. National Pharmacy Inspection & Quality Authority (NPIQA)

Independent inspection and enforcement wing responsible for:

• community pharmacy audits

• hospital pharmacy service inspections

• elimination of licence renting

• pharmacist presence verification

• enforcement against title misuse

• NABH coordination

• service quality grading

⚖️ 5. National Pharmacy Ethics, Registration & Credentialing Board (NPERCB)

Responsible for:

• national pharmacist registry

• protected title registry

• clinical credential tagging

• public verification portal

• fitness-to-practice proceedings

• licence renewal and discipline

• CPD and revalidation

 

🎓 Education and qualification reforms

🧱 1. Phase-out of D.Pharm

• Phased discontinuation of new D.Pharm admissions

• Full protection of all currently registered diploma pharmacists

• National bridge pathways to B.Pharm and higher credentials

India must transition to a degree-based pharmacy profession aligned with modern medication complexity.

🧱 2. National role definitions

• Pharmacist → minimum qualification: B.Pharm

• Clinical Pharmacist (protected title) → Pharm.D + national clinical credentialing

• M.Pharm → specialization pathways (industry, research, QA, PV, regulatory, hospital pharmacy support), without automatic entitlement to clinical patient-care roles

🏥 National Clinical Pharmacy Credentialing Framework

NPC 2026 proposes:

• national clinical competency standards

• mandatory supervised hospital-based training

• structured clinical privileging levels

• outcome-linked audits

• public digital verification

• periodic revalidation

Clinical pharmacy must become competency-gated, not title-based.

✍️ Prescribing licence for Clinical Pharmacists

We propose introduction of a regulated Clinical Pharmacist Prescribing Licence limited to:

• primary care

• chronic disease management

• preventive services

• collaborative practice agreements

Requirements should include:

• Pharm.D or equivalent clinical qualification

• structured supervised training

• national prescribing examination

• periodic licence renewal

• audit-linked performance review

This will strengthen primary healthcare delivery while ensuring accountability.

🏪 Community pharmacy enforcement reforms

• biometric or geo-verified pharmacist presence

• national anti-licence-renting enforcement cell

• surprise inspections

• public pharmacist-on-duty display

• strict minimum-infrastructure enforcement

• pharmacy service grading system

• closure authority for repeat violations

Community pharmacies must function as healthcare establishments, not retail outlets.

🧭 What we are asking

We respectfully urge the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to:

Constitute a National Pharmacy Reform Committee

Restructure PCI into a National Pharmacy Commission (NPC)

Notify protected clinical titles and credentialing rules

Launch national clinical pharmacy competency standards

Initiate phased D.Pharm reform

Establish a prescribing licence framework

Strengthen inspection and enforcement authority

Align NABH standards with national pharmacy practice governance

🏥 Why this matters

Medication errors are among the leading causes of preventable harm worldwide.

A healthcare system where:

• licences can be rented

• pharmacists can be absent

• clinical roles can be assigned without clinical training

is not a professional ecosystem.

It is a patient-safety risk structure.

NPC 2026 shifts Indian pharmacy from:

paper regulation → clinical governance

title culture → competency culture

commercial compliance → patient safety

✍️ Sign this petition to support

• safer medicine use

• accountable pharmacy practice

• clear clinical standards

• stronger primary healthcare

• and a modern Indian pharmacy system