City pharmacies down shutters

Most pharmacies in the city downed shutters on Tuesday, in response to the shut down called by the Tamil Nadu Chemists & Druggists Association (TNCDA). The shut down is part of a nationwide strike. However, several pharmacies that were part of an association that decided not to shut shop, remained open.

K.K. Selvan, general secretary, TNCDA, said of the 35,000 pharmacies across the State, nearly 30,000 remained shut. “About 3,500 are hospital-based pharmacies which were open,” he said.

The day-long shutdown was called to protest a number of issues. One of them is the online sales of drugs, which the pharmacists say, can lead to a number of problems such as fake drugs being sold, irrational drug usage and drug control authorities not being able to test for quality.

Another issue is the proposed e-portal, under which retailers and dealers would have to upload purchase and sale details, Mr. Selvan had said earlier. He had pointed out that only about 17,000 pharmacies in the State had computers and only about 10,000 had internet connections and that this would create a lot of difficulties. “Also, our workload will increase under GST,” Mr. Selvan said.

S. Selvakumar, also of TNCDA, said they had received around 50 calls for emergency medicines, and in some areas shops had to be opened to provide them, and in others they had directed customers to hospital pharmacies.

IMA lends support

The Indian Medical Association, Tamil Nadu State Branch has extended support to the pharmacy shutdown, as it also wants a ban on online sale of drugs, said T.N. Ravisankar, State president. Other bodies too, have supported the shut down, Mr. Selvakumar said.

W.S. Mohan Kumar, president Chennai District of the Chemists & Druggists Association, however, said their members wore black badges on Tuesday in support of the issues raised, but continued to serve the public by keeping medical shops open.

Adequate stock of drugs

State Health secretary J. Radhakrishnan had said that all government facilities, including primary health centres had adequate stocks of drugs. “In addition, 111 Amma pharmacies and 197 cooperative pharmacies remained open,” he said. “The 6 lakh out-patients and the 60 per cent of inpatients in the government sector are taken care of,” he added.

Dr. Radhakrishnan also said that the pharmacists' legitimate concerns about the challenges with the e-portal will be communicated to the relevant Ministry.