E-Pharmacy in India. Can Patient Safety & Drug abuse be compromised without solid medical supervision?
E-Pharmacy in India. Can Patient Safety & Drug abuse be compromised without solid medical supervision?.
The All india Organisation of Chemist and Druggist (AIOCD) has called for a nationwide strike protesting strongly against the government’s decision, stating e-pharmacy poses threat to their business and could lead to the risk of drug abuse. In india there is a rapid rise of online pharmacy & clearly the competition is going up every day thanks to the #DigitalIndia mission but #PatientSafety & #DrugAbuse remain the key concerns. What we need is a clear policy bringing all the stakeholders under one roof. The estimated size of ePharmacy market in India is Rs 1,000 crore which is just 1 per cent of traditional indian pharma market. It is estimated that by 2025 it may grow upto 10-15 per cent of the total size.
The apex body of chemists has declared a day-long nationwide strike on Friday to protest against the Centre’s move to regularise online pharmacies.
#PharmaLeaders2018
#PatientFirst
#HealthcareInnovations
#PharmaLeadersPowerBrands
#Pls2018
#19ThDecemberWithSatyaBrahma
#PharmaLeadersGoldenMoments
The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) has opposed the government’s decision, stating e-pharmacy poses threat to their business and could lead to the risk of drug abuse.”Repeated appeals have been made by the AIOCD through memorandums to the authorities and the departments concerned. The seriousness of the issue is evident through numerous cases of illegal online sale of medicines by the so called e-pharmacies and online portals.
“The AIOCD has already observed two ‘Bharat Bandhs’ earlier. If the appeal does not get a positive response from the government, we will not have any other option than to call for a nationwide indefinite agitation. Chemist shops across the country will remain closed on September 28,” said Sandeep Nangia, the organising secretary of the AIOCD and president of the Retail Distributors Chemists Association (RDCA).While the drug prices have been regulated by the government, online portals offer discounts up to 70 per cent against a 10 per cent discount available at wholesalers. The AIOCD members alleged e-pharmacies would encourage irrational usage of medicines and sale of spurious drugs.
“The government should crack down any online sale of medicines as it raises the risk of drug abuse. At present, online pharmacy business is conducted illegally and the government is not taking any action against it. Hence, we have no alternative than to go on a strike to protect the health of general public,” said general secretary of AIOCD Rajiv Singhal.
“Despite the complaints made by the AIOCD, online pharmacies are supplying goods such as MTP kits and anti-depressant drugs among others without confirming the authenticity of the prescription and patient,” said AIOCD vice-president Surender Duggal.
The Union health ministry has come out with draft rules on the sale of drugs by e-pharmacies with an aim to regulate online sale of medicines across India and provide patients accessibility to genuine drugs from authentic online portals.
The draft rules require online pharmacies to be registered with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the country’s apex drug regulator and central licensing authority and obtain a trade licence.
The supply of any drug shall be made against a cash or credit memo generated through the e-pharmacy portal and such memos shall be maintained by the e-pharmacy registration holder as record, the draft notification said.
However, sale of tranquilisers, psychotropic drugs, narcotics and habit forming drugs have been prohibited through these portals.
The Union Health Ministry has come out with draft rules on sale of drugs by e-pharmacies with an aim to regulate online sale of medicines across India and provide patients accessibility to genuine drugs from authentic online portals.
The draft rules on “sale of drugs by e-pharmacy” state that no person will distribute or sell, stock, exhibit or offer for sale of drugs through e-pharmacy portal unless registered.
“Any person who intends to conduct business of e-pharmacy shall apply for the grant of registration to the Central Licensing Authority in Form 18AA through the online portal of the Central Government,” the draft notification said.
The draft notification says the application of registration of e-pharmacy will have to be accompanied by a sum of Rs 50,000 while asserting that an e-pharmacy registration holder will have to comply with provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000).
“The details of patient shall be kept confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person other than the central government or the state government concerned, as the case may be.
“The supply of any drug shall be made against a cash or credit memo generated through the e-pharmacy portal and such memos shall be maintained by the e-pharmacy registration holder as record,” the draft notification said.
Elaborating on the main highlights of the draft, the Drugs Controller General of India Eswara Reddy said rules have been proposed to ensure accessibility and availability of drugs to the people across India.
“After the rules are finalised, people will be able to get genuine drugs through these online pharmacies. These pharmacies will be purchasing directly from the drug manufacturer so they will also be able to give 20-30 per cent discounts, thus benefiting the patients,” Reddy told .
He pointed out that under the rules it has been proposed that those who want to do online pharmacy will have to register with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), the country’s apex drug regulator and central licensing authority.
“Now those who want to operate e-pharmacies, only need to take one licence in any state. They can sell drugs all over the country even if they have one licence,” Reddy said.
However, sale of tranquillisers, psychotropic drugs, narcotics and habit forming drugs have been prohibited through these portals.
“The premises from where the e-pharmacy business is conducted shall be inspected, every two years, by a team of officers authorised by the Central Licensing Authority, with or without the experts in the relevant field or the officers authorised by the concerned State Licensing Authority,” the draft rules
Reddy said it would binding on the e-pharmacies to deliver the drugs in the specific time that will be told to the patient during the time of purchase while the e-portals are mandatorily required to have 24/7 call centres.
The registration issued to any person for e-pharmacy will remain valid for a period a three years from the date of its issuance and a renewal of registration will have to be done in case it wants to continue.
“No e-pharmacy shall advertise any drug on radio or television or internet or print or any other media for any purpose,” the draft said, adding that there are provisions of suspension and cancellation of registration of the e-portal if the latter contravenes any provision of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
India is searching for ‘online medicine apps’ more than any other country, points out Google Trends, that is a Google’s analytical platform and a dominant internet search engine. Following India, Pakistan, UAE and Nepal are the countries in the rank list who are searching the medicines and healthcare service platforms online.
As per Google Trends’ data, India is among top five countries searching online medical apps. Some commonly search terms are ‘buy online medicine’, ‘medical app’, ‘buy medicines’ among others.
“With the increasing concern over lifestyle diseases and some specific virus, access to basic healthcare is becoming a challenge because of inadequate infrastructure and resources, mainly due to lack of smart data management and logistics management. But on the other hand, the population is getting more tech-savvy and demanding convenient ways to receive healthcare services,” Manish Mehta, founder and chairman of MeraPatient App, Rajasthan based mHealth service provider said. “The statistics by Google Trend help motivates all stakeholders in the Indian healthcare ecosystem to put a collective effort to achieve wider adoption of mHealth in India.” he added.The estimated size of ePharmacy market in India is Rs 1,000 crore which is just 1 per cent of traditional indian pharma market. It is estimated that by 2025 it may grow upto 10-15 per cent of the total size.
Further on analyzing Indian states for the same search term, it is observed West Bengal, Haryana, Delhi, Jharkhand and Odisha have been the top five states where people have googled for online medicines and medical apps. “The statistics show that more and more Indians are accessing the internet and that too on their smartphones. This notable and gradual change in behaviour is an important factor for mHealth adoption. Free of cost availability of mHealth apps have the potential to create a difference,” said Mehta.
Searching for apps
As per Google Trends’ data, India is among top five countries searching online medical apps. Following India, Pakistan, UAE and Nepal are the countries in the rank list who are searching the medicines and healthcare service platforms online.