[e-drug] Nutrition in health care, any role for pharmacists? (6)

E-DRUG: Nutrition in health care, any role for pharmacists? (6)
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Dear Rebecca,

You have taken up an important issue. Nutrition plays an important role for maintaining good health. It is more crucial in case of a patient suffering from chronic disease. Pharmacists have a important role to play in this field. They can work with the Nutritionist if available in that specific health care set up or they can take up the issue independently if Nutritionist is not available in that set up.

There are two issues - firstly their education in this field and secondly availability of Nutritional products.

In India Nutrition is included as a part of the subject "Health Education and Community Pharmacy" in the course curriculum of Diploma in Pharmacy.

Nutritional Products are some times categorized as Food and some times as Drugs. This type of products are termed as "Food Supplements", "Nutritional Supplements"etc. This area is not transparent and varied country to country.

There is a need for incorporation of this subject in Pharmacy course curriculum and necessary legislation needs to be framed to make this are more transparent.

Thanks,

Subhash C. Mandal, M.Pharm., Ph.D(Pharm.)
Regulatory Pharmacist
Kolkata
e-mail: subhash.mandaldr@gmail.com