“With the advent of e-pharmacy, there is a need to amend the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, as it does not differentiate between offline and online pharmacies. The government is seized of the issue and is working towards amending the existing law to develop a framework where consumers are benefitted,” K. B. Aggarwal, the Additional Secretary (Food and Drugs), Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said here on Monday.
Easy availability
Mr. Aggarwal was speaking during the launch of a report at a session on “E-pharmacy in India — Last Mile Access of Medicines,” organised by FICCI.
He added that e-pharmacy would allow easy availability of drugs at all hours. However, there were concerns with respect to legitimacy of e-pharmacies, patients’ safety and privacy, misuse of e-pharmacies and its adverse effect on retailers’ business.
Guidelines
Mr. Aggarwal added that there was need to create e-pharmacy guidelines to allow proper tracking and monitoring of sale of drugs, authenticity of online pharmacists and prescriptions, and details of patients, thereby helping in reducing drug abuse and counterfeiting.
“Also, linking a person’s Aadhar number with e-pharmacies will ensure correctness of person seeking medicines.”
He said deliberations were taking place for ensuring privacy and confidentiality of information, and that these suggestions will soon be put up for further discussion among stakeholders. Stating that the government was working towards developing its online platform, he said the system should be stable by the end of December.
Priority sector
S. Eswara Reddy, the Joint Drugs Controller, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, said the government was working towards drafting a new drugs and cosmetics Act to meet current regulatory requirements related to safety, efficacy and quality of drugs.
“For the government, pharmaceuticals are a priority sector. Therefore, it is critical to ensure that its regulations are strengthened. There should be a standard format of prescriptions,” Dr. Reddy added.
