Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J.P. Nadda on Tuesday spoke to the president of the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) on their call for an all-India strike October 14 against the alleged efforts to allow sale of medicines online.
The Minister clarified that no such decision has been taken by the government. He told him that views of all stakeholders would be taken into account as and when the matter is taken up for consideration.
A meeting was held between senior officials of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the AIOCD wherein the office-bearers were informed that a number of representations have been received both for and against this proposal, and the matter had earlier been discussed at the meeting of the Drug Consultative Committee (DCC).
“A sub-committee has been constituted by the DCC to look into the matter, which has so far undertaken only preliminary discussions with the stakeholders,” said the Minister. It was also clarified that scrutiny of the representations should not be misconstrued as the intention of the government to permit any such sale, said a release issued by the Ministry.In a related development, private players in the e-pharmacy sector have united to form the Indian Internet Pharmacy Association (IIPA). The IIPA announced its official formation on Tuesday with ‘its mission being to promote and protect the public health by ensuring that its members operate in accordance with the existing Drugs and Cosmetics Rules read with Section 4 and 5 of the Information Technology Act, 2008, and the Pharmacy Practice Regulations, 2015’.
The AIOCD, which has eight lakh members across the country, has announced that it will observe a bandh to oppose the Centre’s move to regularise online sale of medicines, its president J. S. Shinde said.
IIPA claims to brings together some of the most successful companies from both the pharma and e-commerce industry. The current 11-member list consists of Bookmeds, mChemist, Medidart, Medlife, Medstar, Netmeds, Pharmeasy, Zigy.com (PM Health & Life Care), SaveOnMedicals, Savemymeds and1mg.com.
Ministers said views of all stakeholders would be taken into account as and when the matter is taken up for consideration
