Over 40,000 chemists to observe one-day shutdown in Andhra on May 20

Nearly 43,000 medical shops in Andhra Pradesh will shut shop for a day on May 20, protesting alleged unregulated functioning of online pharmacies, predatory pricing and the delay in withdrawal of certain notifications.

PV Ratnam, president, Andhra Pradesh Chemists and Druggists Association (APCDA), an affiliate of the All India Organisations of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), which represents over 12.4 lakh chemists and medicines distributors, on Tuesday said protests and demonstrations will be staged tomorrow across the southern state.

''AIOCD has announced a one-day nationwide shutdown on May 20 against government inaction. In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the organisation has made it clear that despite repeated requests, no concrete action has been taken on the serious issues affecting the pharmaceutical trade,'' Ratnam said in a release.

Alleging that e-pharmacies are a threat to public health, he said that they were exploiting ''weak regulation'' to sell medicines without physical verification, resulting in the repeated use of a single prescription.

Through AI-based fake prescription, he alleged that uncontrolled availability of antibiotics and addiction-forming drugs are giving rise to threats such as Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), compromising public health.

Delving into predatory pricing, Ratnam alleged that large corporate entities are disturbing ''market balance through deep discounting''.

While margins on essential medicines are fixed by the government, he claimed that corporate entities are creating unfair competition. This is threatening the survival of small chemists in rural and semi-urban areas, he said, adding that ''this will ultimately destroy the accessible medicine supply system.''.

Further, he demanded the immediate withdrawal of the 2018 GSR 817 (E) notification enabling e-pharmacy operations and Covid-19 period notification GSR 220 (E), which allowed home delivery of medicines.

Calling for a level-playing field, he demanded the end of ''unfair'' deep discounting by corporates.

Moreover, Ratnam warned that if the grievances of the chemists and druggists were not resolved, they would not hesitate to launch an indefinite strike.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)