Chemists go on nationwide strike on Tuesday

Over eight lakh chemists across the country will be on strike on Tuesday to protest against e-pharmacies and the Government’s e-portal initiative to regulate the sale of medicines in the country.

“Chemists across the country will remain closed since we have not heard anything from the Central Government on this,” JS Shinde, President of the All India Organsaition of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) told Business Line, confirming the strike tomorrow and a demonstration at Jantar Mantar.

Calling the Government’s proposal to have an e-portal that would help track and regulate the sale of medicines as “impracticable”, the AIOCD says that the insufficient IT infrastructure across the in the country would make it difficult for stockists, druggists and chemists to upload details of the sale within the stipulated time. This will cause a scarcity of drugs in the country, it cautioned.

Responding to the Health Ministry’s call for stakeholder views on the e-portal, Shinde pointed out that practitioners of tradition medicines like Homeopathy and Ayurveda also prescribed allopathic medicines in rural areas where MCI-registered (Medical Council of India) doctors were not present. “This is serious problem and if the medicines are denied on such prescriptions, the people in the rural area will be deprived of the medicines. The chemists will have to face their rage and it may turn into such a situation where the law and order would be at stake. This has not been thought over in the proposed notice,” Shinde said.

The Health Ministry had undertaken this public exercise to frame rules for the “efficient” sale of medicines in and from the country and to ensure that every transaction had a digital footprint. The Ministry’s public notice further points out that the idea was to ensure availability of the right quality drugs to every person, curbing anti-microbial resistance (AMR), and regulating the supply of online medicines to persons or other entities in or outside India.

“Barring the urban areas, the internet connection is limited or even does not exist in the rural and remote areas in our country and it will be difficult for the stockists and chemists to upload the details daily about the medicines received, their sale or sending them back to the manufacturers, etc”, the AIOCD said.

Shinde further pointed out that the regulatory machinery overseeing medicines manufactured in the country and its supply to the stockists was already in place. “If the problem is about the sale of medicines to the customers, it is monitored by the Food and Drugs Administration,” he said.

The discussion paper also raised the issue of online pharmacies, still a fledgeling phenomenon. The AIOCD has in the past opposed e-pharmacies on the grounds that it could result in the abuse of medicines like psychiatric drugs, cough syrups etc.

At the other end of the spectrum though, online pharmacies have pointed out that having a digital footprint allows better oversight to prevent the misuse and abuse of medicines. Giving a different take on the issue, health advocacy groups however cautioned on privacy concerns involving an e-portal for medicines. There is a risk of patient information going into the wrong hands, if all medicine sale details were uploaded online, a healthworker said.

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