Hyderabad medical shops not to join strike tomorrow

The Greater Hyderabad Retail Medical Shops Association (GHRMSA) has decided not to take part in the one-day strike called by the All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) tomorrow. Kishan Murari Shetty, general secretary, GHRMSA said, “In Hyderabad, the unhealthy practices followed by the manufacturers and distributors is forcing us not to toe the line of AIOCD.” He further added, “In other states, the product first goes to the distributor and then to the retailer and finally lands in the hands of the end user, but in Hyderabad, the distributors are directly selling medicines to the patients.

The AIOCD called for a strike to protest any move by the government allowing sale of medicines online or allowing e-pharmacies to operate in India in any form. GHRMSA opposes the governments draft notification on several counts, including the alleged financial onslaught of multinational companies and other Indian corporate companies. Suman Gupta, a member of GHRMSA says, “Business at conventional pharmacies will be hit badly and result in unemployment. The implementation of checks and controls on e-pharmacies by the drug control authorities may be difficult.”

GHRMSA opposes the inequality and inadequacy of rules framed for e-pharmacy in the draft notification and requests the concerned authorities to make necessary amendments for delivery of quality medicines /safety of the patients and save the youth from easy access to potent and other drugs leading to addiction and also to save lakhs of pharma retailers across the nation who will be on the verge of closure.

Major grouse

On account of unfair trade practices of selling medicines directly to customers, being adopted by the manufacturers and their distributors/stockiest etc. is resulting in great loss to the retailers. This practices of the manufacturers and distributors has substantially marginalised the pharma retailers to a great extent. Several attempts by GHRMSA since its inception to curb this unfair practice of direct sales to the patients and to safeguard the interests of the retailers even at the Drug Control Authority level have been futile.

On account of total negligence of “local pharma retailer`s” issues by AIOCD and its affiliated state bodies TSCDA/APCDA/HCDCA, GHRMSA is adopting its own policy of protest against the draft notification, GHRMSA`s members will not be participating in the bandh called by AIOCD said a member of GHRMSA.

BY T P Venu