Research and Development
Pharmacists contribute to research, and their expertise in formulation development is of particular relevance to the biological availability of active ingredients.

Manufacture and Quality Assurance
The pharmacist's broad knowledge of the pharmaceutical sciences ensures an integrated approach to quality assurance (including good manufacturing practice) through the validation of the various stages of production and the testing of products before release.

The World Health Organization recommends and the statutory provisions in some countries require that pharmacists hold certain positions in the pharmaceutical manufacturing processes. The key personnel that are responsible for supervising the manufacture and quality control of pharmaceutical products should possess the qualifications of a scientific education and practical experience required by national legislation. Their education should include the study of an appropriate combination of the disciplines as shown in Table?1. The table also explains the relevance of the qualification of the aforesaid key personnel to different curricula in the undergraduate level of studies.

The World Health Organisation has also recommended an organisational chart for a low cost pharmaceutical formulation plant (LCPP) in developing countries in their technical document no: DPM/80.2. The organisational chart clearly identifies the positions that should be filled by the Pharmacists. The aforesaid organisational chart is annexed to this presentation

Drug Information
The pharmacist has the knowledge and expertise to provide detailed information on medicines to members of the health professions and the public. Also, pharmacists provide an information service within the company.

Patent Applications and Drug Registration
The pharmacist is ideally qualified to understand and collate the diverse information required for patent and authorisation submissions.

Clinical Trials and Post Marketing Surveillance
The pharmacist has the knowledge of drugs and heath care provision required facilitating collaboration between companies, health professionals and governments in relation to clinical trials and surveillance.

Sales and Marketing
The pharmacist, whose professional ethics demand a concern for the interest of patients, can make a contribution to proper marketing practices related to health care and to the provision of appropriate information to health professionals and the public.

Management
The inclusion of pharmacists in all levels of management promotes an ethical approach within management policies.

Community pharmacists are the health professionals most accessible to the public. They supply medicines in accordance with a prescription or, when legally permitted, sell them without a prescription. In addition to ensuring an accurate supply of appropriate products, their professional activities also cover counseling of patients at the time of dispensing of prescription and non?prescription drugs, drugs information to health professionals, patients and the general public, and participation in health?promotion programmes. They maintain links with other health professionals in primary health care.

The main activities of community pharmacists are :

1. Processing of prescriptions
2. Care of patients or clinical pharmacy
3. Monitoring of drug utilisation
4. Extemporaneous preparation and small?scale manufacture of medicines
5. Traditional and alternative medicines
6. Responding to symptoms of minor ailments
7. Informing health care professional and the public
8. Health Promotion
   

has more opportunity to interact closely with the prescriber and therefore, to promote the rational prescribing and use of drugs;

in larger hospital and institutional pharmacies, usually one of several pharmacists, has a greater opportunity to interact with others, to specialise and to gain greater expertise;

having access to medical records, is in a position to influence the selection of drugs and dosage regimens, to monitor patient compliance and therapeutic response to drugs, and to recognise and report adverse drugs reactions;

can more easily than the community pharmacist assess and monitor patterns of drugs usage and thus recommend changes where necessary

serves as a member of policy making committees, including those concerned with drug selection, the use of antibiotics, and hospital infections (Drug and Therapeutics Committee) and thereby influences the preparation and composition of essential ?drug list of formulary; 0 is in a better position to educate other professionals about the rational use of drugs

more easily participates in studies to determine the beneficial or adverse effects of drugs, and is involved in the analysis of drugs in body fluids

can control hospital manufacture and procurement of drugs to ensure the supply of highquality products;