Is AP heading towards Drug Crisis amid coronavirus lockdown? Read this story

Amaravati: The problems at production, transportation, supply chain and more than that the fear among public due to lockdown led to the shortage of essential drugs in the State. The existing medicines in the market are sufficient enough to meet the demand for a week. At the same time, the chemists and druggists suspect that if the present situation will prevail for next spell, beyond April 14, then the real problem will emerge.

Generally, people are advised to purchase the medicine for ten to fifteen days only. Now, due to the fear of lockdown, the patients suffering with chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetic, neurology, psychiatry and others have purchased drugs for three to six months depending on their financial potential and their knowledge on the market, explained K Chandrasekhar, President of Guntur Retail Drug Traders Association. He said that at present, there are about 40,000 varieties of drugs available in the market. But, some of them only have high demand.

On the other hand, the patients have been buying the medicines without prescription, since the private hospitals are not in service and private doctors are not attending the duties. The retail shop owners are saying that, if the doctors attend patients, then the demand for other medicines will be stabilized. Speaking on it, KP Ranga Rao, Vice President, All India Organization of Chemist and Druggist (AIPCD), said that when the doctors do not prescribe the medicine, the patients tend to consult others who have not qualified to suggest medicines, and also depend on employees working at medical shops. It is also one of the causes for artificial demand for drugs in the market, he observed.

Further, Ranga Rao informed that, the manufacturers are facing problems at production unit itself, since the employees are not attending. Even after production also, there is a problem with regular labour, who pack the drugs and load them in the trucks. Since, the regular workers are not available; the entire supply chain from manufacturing unit to the retail shop is forced to depend on new workers who are available at the given point of time. That leads to extra expenses on labour. In addition to that, the managements of transportation vehicles are also demanding high charges than the regular transportation charges. The essential drugs and medicines are being imported to AP from Ahmadabad, Gujarat, Bombay, Delhi and other parts of the country, he informed.

Explaining all these, Ranga Rao said that they discussed the issue with the officials Transportation department and government directed the transportation companies to deliver the medicines as per the regular charges. Since, the ESMA is in force, there is a hope that the transportation charges may not increase and the burden will not be passed on to the consumers, he stated.

On the other hand, when comes to the protection masks and sanitizers, Ranga Rao said that these two will be abundantly available in the market in the coming days. There is no need to panic for them, he observed.