Angul District Chemists and Druggists Association submits a memorandum to Talcher Sub Collector in various issues
Dhiramohan Ray,Odishabarta
One-day shutdown call of all medicine trading establishments proposed on May 20th across the country
Talcher,( 12/05/2):Angul District Chemists’ and Druggists’ Association (ADCA) is a district affiliated branch of Utkal Chemists and Druggists Association (UCDA) and All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD). All India Organisation Chemists and Druggists represents more than 12 lakh 40 thousand chemists and distributors across the country and is responsible for the livelihood of more than 5 crore families through drug trading.
Despite repeated representations and complaints to various authorities at the Central and State levels, many important issues affecting the pharmaceutical business and public health have not been resolved.
The situation has now reached a very alarming level, posing a serious threat to the livelihood of more than 12.40 lakh chemists and about 5 crore dependents.
In this context, the national organization, (AIOCD) has called for a shutdown of the one day medicine business establishments on 20th of this month in protest against the said long standing policy.
The demands include illegal functioning of e-pharmacies and notification dated 28.08.2018, withdrawal of GSR 817(E), predatory pricing by big corporates, notification dated 26.03.2020, withdrawal of GSR 220(E),
The uncontrolled increase in the number of illegal e-pharmacies and the practice of predatory pricing by big corporates is seriously affecting the drug distribution system. These incidents are not only endangering the existence of small and medium chemists but are also posing a serious threat to the general public.
The reasons are: sale of medicines without valid prescription, frequent misuse of prescriptions, easy availability of antibiotics and habit forming medicines, circulation of fake or unverifiable prescriptions, lack of direct interaction between pharmacists and patients, risk of counterfeit and improperly stored medicines.
It is well understood that medicines are not ordinary commodities; these are directly related to patients’ safety. The existing system ensures that the right medicine reaches the right patient through qualified doctors and registered pharmacists and any disruption in this system can have serious consequences for public health. In addition, the deep discounting practices adopted by large corporates under predatory pricing policies are distorting fair competition, making it increasingly difficult for small chemists to sustain it, and creating an unstable and unbalanced market environment.
In view of these sensitive issues, on the advice of Angul District Chemists’ and Druggists’ Association President Subodh Chandra Mishra and General Secretary Nirmal Kumar Mishra, all the pharmaceutical businesses in Talcher will be closed on the 20th.
On behalf of the pharmaceutical businesses of Talcher, a memorandum has been presented to Talcher Sub Collector, Ashish Ranjan Sahu through Dhira Mohan Ray, Pradeep Kumar Pradhan, Narayan Sethi, Ballabh Sahu, Sushant Kumar Sahu, Mayadhar Sahu, Munsaf Khan, Soumya Ranjan Pradhan.
The cooperation of the administration and the public has been sought for the protection of public health and livelihood of lakhs of chemists.
