The five-day World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences-2011 and the 71st International Congress of International Pharmaceutical Federation began in Hyderabad today.
The theme of the congress is Compromising Safety and Quality, A Risky Path.
This is the first time in the Congress' 100-year history that India is hosting it. It is being held at Hyderabad International Convention Centre. About 3,000 delegates from over 120 countries are participating.
The event will have deliberations on issues relating to drugs. There will be talks on key issues relating to quality of drugs and medicines and their repercussions on public health.
The congress will have multiple panel discussions centred around the role of pharmacists in tackling the menace of counterfeit drugs, benchmarks to be set during production of medicines and regulatory reinforcements for building-in safety and quality.
The event is being hosted by the Indian Pharmaceutical Association. The President, Ms Pratibha Patil, inaugurated the programme.
At the congress, the World Health Organisation through its representative would present the initiatives taken by the global body to prevent irrational use of medicines and improve accessibility of essential drugs to the poorest of poor across the globe.