PANJIM: Chemists and druggists across the State will remain closed on Tuesday until midnight in support of the nationwide bandh called by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD).
Chemist and Druggists Association of Goa (CDAG) President, Prasad Tamba said that Goa’s 600 pharmacies will join more than 8 lakh pharmacies across the country in protest of the Central Health and Family Welfare Ministry, which has proposed an e-portal for the regulation of sale of medicines.
However, pharmacies in government hospitals will be open to cater to all patients, irrespective of whether in-patients from the hospitals or walk-in prescriptions. Pharmacies in private hospitals will cater only to in-patients.
Tamba said that the e-portal is impracticable as internet connectivity throughout the country is not strong and in such circumstances, the delay in the process will lead to chaos and trouble to the waiting patients and their relatives.
According to Tamba, the proposal mandates that every prescription has to be uploaded on the e-portal and the system will then auto-generate the bill. “In addition, every such transaction will be charged either 1 percent of the bill or Rs 200 per prescription, whichever is higher,” he added.
In a letter to the Union ministry, President of AIOCD, Jagannath Shinde said, “Considering insufficient infrastructure of IT across the country, it will be difficult and embarrassing for most of the stockists, druggists and chemists to upload the details of the sale on the e-portal within a stipulated period. The Association is of the opinion that, this will cause scarcity of the medicines in the country.”
