Chemists plan nationwide strike on Oct 14
Posted on: 06/Oct/2015 12:43:11 PM
The All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists represents about eight lakh chemists and distributors of medicines across the country and they are protesting the Government`s move to allow the sale of medicines over the Internet.
Tamilnadu Chemists and Druggists Association secretary N Anandan said, We have decided to go for nationwide chemists strike on 14 October to protect the health of the general public as well as interest of our members. Online pharmacies in country have significantly increased due to growth of e-commerce. Online pharmacies in India run on an Internet-based prescription model and there is little regulation. It is dangerous to sell medicines without any prescriptions. Many online pharmacies are supplying medicines like I-pill, Viagra, MTP kits, anti-depression, sleeping pills, codeine cough syrups without confirming the authenticity of prescription and patients. Moreover there is great possibility of spurious and banned drugs being sold via the Net. At present, online pharmacy business is going on unabated and authorities are not taking any action on the complaints made by us. In June, we submitted elaborate presentations to the Health and other ministries on this issue. But, the Central government hasn`t taken any action. So, the all-India body has decided to resort to a one-day strike on October 14 to create awareness on the dangers of selling drugs through the internet.
