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Medicine shops to close shop on October 14
Posted on: 10/Oct/2015 11:45:42 AM
Small chemist shops across the country will close their doors for a day on October 14. The move is to mark protest against the online pharmacy industry. This growing online community has big money backers and is convenient to users. Reports claim that almost 8,50,000 shops will take part in the protest.
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. had recently announced that it will start online drug sales. Ziggy, another company, has e-pharmacies (called 1 mg) worth $13 million. Ziggy is backed by Sequoia Capital. According to a 1 mg official, the company`s website get 60 million hits a month. Its mobile app has 3.5 million downloads. This was launched in 2012.
The one day protest has been called by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD). The government has just started to work on laws on the e-pharmacy market. According to the pharmacists, the new e-pharmacy market will be a big challenge for small time retailers. Also, they are concerned about drugs that are sold without proper verification and safety of the prescriptions. Says an AIOCD official, Our children are savvy to social media. If they put one prescription online, they will take a picture and send it to other companies to get medicines... (We) will also organise a street protest in the capital New Delhi. An indefinite strike will be considered if the government does not stop online sales.
On the other hand, e-pharmacists say that drug laws were not being violated. They say, We expect new regulations to give clarity for online players to exist... (We) will start online drug sales once the new regulations are finalised. Consumers are attracted by the convenience... A huge database of medicines makes it a one-stop shop.
