Social pharmacy strengthening clinical pharmacy: why pharmaceutical policy research is needed in Pakistan?

Pakistan has a population of more than 160 million and is the sixth most populous country in the world. Drugs are the most common form of treatment modality; however, inappropriate use of medicines is a crucial issue in the country. In Pakistan, recently there is a surge of number of pharmacy schools, the pharmacy degree (B. Pharm) has been changed to Pharm D and there is a lot of rhetoric about "clinical pharmacy". However, whether this change has brought any significant improvement in drug use situation; it is still a moot question for academics and policy makers. Authors feel that before embarking upon on clinical pharmacy at an institutional level, it is important that basic pharmacy system should be in place. Thus, a strong culture in social pharmacy or pharmaceutical policy research will not only be helpful to establish clinical pharmacy practice, but it would also be supportive enough to provide manpower to the country's proposed drug regulatory authority.