The Chemists shops in Chandigarh will remain close on May 30 following a nationwide strike organised by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists Association. The strike has been organised to confront the issues of online sale of medicines, E-portal and making a DPharma certificate compulsory for every wholesale chemist and renewal of licence.
The Reason Behind The Chemists Strike
About 600 chemist stores excluding the ones in the hospitals will remain closed in Chandigarh on May 30.
The president of Chandigarh’s Chemists Association Vijay Anand has shown his disapproval on the idea of selling pharmacy items online. Anand said that the government’s proposal of selling medicines online can lead to many problems like:
- Improper storage of the medicines that can decrease its quality
- Unassurance of the reliability of the drugs
- During emergency cases, any delay in delivery of medicines can prove fatal to the patient’s health
- Almost 8 lakh chemists will go jobless along with 40 lakh dependants
Along with that Anand also displayed his concern regarding the implementation of ePortal for the chemists. He said that the ePortal facility will bind the chemists more to uploading prescriptions and bills than selling medicines.
Moreover, the mandation of DPharma for wholesale chemists will add up to further unemployment informed Anand.
The Problems Of Online Sale of Medicines
According to the general secretary of the Chandigarh’s Chemists Association Vinay Jain the selling of drugs online has more drawbacks than benefits. He said the online selling system will hamper the Drug and Cosmetics Act in a severe way.
- The medicines will become easily accessible to everyone and might fall in wrong hands as well
- There will be no proof of drugs authenticity
- Easy availability of drugs can also lead to drug menace
- with habit-forming drugs that can put consumers health on stake.
The association members are still not understanding why the government is taking up the initiative of starting online medical stores that can prove fatal to consumers in long run; when the medical stores are maintaining and ensuring good standards, authenticity and credibility.
The Chandigarh’s Chemists will assemble in the Sector 15 market to organize the strike.
Source: The Indian Express