Team Herald
PANJIM: The healthcare sector could face a major issue with chemists in Goa joining the nation-wide day-long strike on Wednesday to protest the Central government’s decision to allow medicines to be sold online.
The Chemist and Druggists Association Goa (CDAG), comprising all medical stores and pharmaceutical distributors in Goa with a membership of over 750 and affiliated to All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), has extended its support to the pharma bandh.
“We are going on a day’’s strike in solidarity with eight lakh chemists across the country,” said Prasad Tamba, the president of the association.
Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister Francis D’Souza on Tuesday said the strike would not affect government hospitals as all government pharmacies will remain open. “We have made sure that all government pharmacies remain open,” D’Souza told Herald.
The strike will be effective from October 13 midnight and will affect about 750 retail chemists and over 200 wholesale druggists.
Tamba said that presently the online pharmacy business is going on illegally and government authorities are not taking any action, despite complaints. “Internet online pharmacies are supplying all the goods like I-pill, MTP kits, anti-depressants, habit-forming drugs, etc without confirming the authenticity of prescription and patient,” he said.
Tamba highlighted some of the main issues that are of concern which include illegal sale of medicines, increased risk of adverse drug reaction, threat of irrational use of medicines, lack of infrastructure and manpower, etc.
Chemists fear that the online dispensing of medicines will lead to misuse of drugs. “A chemist can physically verify the doctor’s prescription and further advise patients. Online prescriptions can be prone to fraud,” he said, adding that personal relationship between the patient and the pharmacist is a crucial part of the medical ecosystem.
Allowing online sale of all medicines would render over two crore people jobless, Tamba said.
Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Goa State branch and the Goa Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (GPMA), have extended their support to the bandh.
A statement by Tamba states that IMA and GPMA do understand that online pharmacy has no health benefits or implications but is loaded with scope for misuse, drug abuse, dependence and adverse reactions.
“This type of source of medicines is not only unethical but it denies the patient the supervision of doctors in the use of medicines. This will encourage patient to use one prescription repeatedly without the supervision of the doctor, which will ultimately cause serious effects on the health of the patients,” the release states.
