To protest against online pharmacy and the proposal given by Union Health Ministry to set up an e-portal to regulate sale of medicines, Telangana Chemists and Druggists Association (TTCDA) announced a 24-hour bandh on May 30.
The one-day strike of medical shops has been called by All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), in which all pharmaceutical stores in Telangana would remain shut to support the strike.
According to The New Indian Express, there are 25,000 pharmacies which are members of the association. Out of this, 6,000 in Hyderabad and Secunderabad are expected to take part in the bandh.
In a recent move by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, it has been made mandatory for all medical shop owners to set up a website or an e-platform and upload data related to stocks and sale of drugs.
While for Schedule H drugs, under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, the medical shop owners will reportedly have to upload details of the patient, registration of doctors and prescription.
“We are urging the governments at the Centre and at the state to not allow the e-retail system in medicals as it would be a lot of inconvenience to customers. In many villages and remote areas, basic infrastructure like power and Internet connection are missing. When a patient walks into a pharmacy to buy medicines, he will have to wait for a longer time till the retailer finishes the formalities of doing online registration and giving away the medicines, so the process is time consuming.” R Srinivas, general secretary of TTCDA, told Deccan Chronicle.
Another reason the association alleged is that this might lead to unregulated sale of addictive drugs.
“Places where there is no allopathy doctor, Indian medicine doctors prescribe medicines. In such places, medical shops won’t be able to disburse medicines, which will create artificial shortage,” AIOCD members told Telangana Today.