News Highlights:
- Early in February, the Ministry of Health issued a show-cause notice to at least twenty companies, including Tata-1mg, Flipkart, Apollo, PharmEasy, Amazon, and Reliance Netmeds, for selling medicines online.
- This happened after the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), a powerful lobby of over 12 lakh pharmacists, threatened to launch a country-wide agitation if the government didn’t act.
What is e-pharmacy?
- About:
- E-pharmacy denotes the buying and selling of medicines and other pharmaceutical items with the support of a web portal or any electronic mode.Â
- These are online platforms where consumers can purchase medicines without visiting brick-and-mortar pharmacies.
- Indian e-pharmacies:
- e-pharmacy constitutes only 3% of pharmaceutical sales in India.
- There are more than 200 e-pharmacy start-ups in India.
- It has been subject to hostility from retail pharmacists’ associations such as the All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD).
- To formalise the online sale of drugs, the Union Health Ministry has recently laid down specific guidelines that require e-pharmacies to be registered with Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), the chief licensing and regulatory authority for pharmaceutical sales in India.
- This move was met by strong retaliation from AIOCD, which even threatened to boycott the medicines marketed by those pharma companies that invest in e-pharmacy.
Advantages of E-Pharmacy:
- Easy to access:
- It is very easy to order prescription drugs through E-Pharmacy.
- Especially for people who live far away from a traditional pharmacy, the elderly, disabled people, and those who work very intensively, this system is both a very easy and fast method of obtaining medicine.
- Additionally, the shipping cost is much cheaper than travelling to a traditional pharmacy.
- Time-saving:
- One of the essential advantages of the E-Pharmacy application is time-saving.
- You can order your medication within minutes and get your prescription medicines very quickly.
- All you have to do is to place an order by entering the prescription through the mobile application or website. You do not have to go to the pharmacy, and you will not be faced with waiting in line the pharmacy.
- Cost Effective:
- Buying drugs on the internet also saves money.
- Studies show that buying drugs online can save a third of the money in total.
- Privacy and confidentiality:
- Another advantage offered by E-Pharmacy is privacy and confidentiality.
- This system provides great convenience, especially for those who are afraid of talking face-to-face with doctors and pharmacists.
- In addition, people are able to order medications without any drawback on special issues such as sexuality or adolescence that may be a source of embarrassment.
- Availability:
- E-Pharmacy, which offers a much more comprehensive range of options than a traditional pharmacy, provides a great advantage to patients.
- It is impossible to find every drug in a physical pharmacy in a particular area, but there are many more drug options available in general drug stores.
- Drug verification process:
- Most legal stores that work with E-Pharmacy have a drug verification process.
- These stores request a prescription from a personal doctor, or drug delivery is applied after completing a questionnaire about the patient’s health status.
- A doctor approves these questionnaires before being distributed.
- Provides information about medicines:
- Some online pharmacies share helpful information about medicines and illnesses.
- It provides links to helpful information and important medical resources, universities, and government agencies.
Issues with E-pharmacies in India:
- Regulatory issues:
- Medicines come under the purview of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940.
- However, the current Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 doesn’t explicitly deal with e-pharmacies.
- Thus, no clear-cut guidelines exist to regulate, control and monitor e-pharmacies in India.
- Promotion of self-medication
- There are concerns that e-pharmacies will encourage self-medication or irrational use of medicines which is already a common practice in India.
- Misuse
- Prescriptions submitted to e-pharmacies may be fake, and it could be challenging to verify their authenticity.
- Some concerns scheduled drugs can be re-ordered and misused by consumers leading to drug abuse and other criminal activities.
- Fake/Illegal sites and substandard medicines
- Concerns over fake or illegal sites are coming up, thus undermining consumer interest.
- Further, there are concerns over substandard and counterfeit drugs being sold.
- Effect on retail sellers
- The growth of e-pharmacies has given rise to concerns among retail sellers that their business would be adversely affected as they could not compete with the discounted pricing provided by online platforms.
- Privacy issues
- There are medical privacy concerns associated with the online transaction of drugs, as the patient’s medical history could be leaked.
Way Forward:
- The Indian market for online pharmacies has enormous potential to address the ongoing problem of the cost and accessibility of medications. To protect the customers’ interests, steps should be taken to promote the e-pharmacy sector with adequate safeguards and strict regulatory oversight.
- E-pharmacies need a strict licencing system, which should be implemented. for e-pharmacies, a logo and registration number can be created, allowing customers to verify the website’s legitimacy. As an illustration, the European Union (EU) has created a standard logo for e-pharmacies authorised to operate in EU member states.
- Information regarding patients should be digitally stored to prevent medicinal abuse and ensure tracking in case of any adverse event to a medicine.
- Government health schemes, and e-health initiatives, for example, telemedicine, can be linked to e-pharmacies to efficiently cater to a large section of the population in rural and sub-urban areas with unmet medical needs.
Pic courtesy: The Hindu
Content Source: The Hindu