Online Sale of Drugs
Why in news :
- In early February, the Ministry of Health pulled up at least twenty companies including Tata-1mg, Flipkart, Apollo, PharmEasy, Amazon and Reliance Netmeds, by issuing them a show cause notice, 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.
- The Minister went so far as to say that e-pharmacies should be closed down.
Is banning e-pharmacies a viable option?
- The Ministry of Health has adopted a ‘blow hot blow cold’ approach towards online pharmacies.
- The acute need for door step delivery of drugs was felt during COVID-19.
- The year of 2020 marked a watershed moment for the growth of e-pharmacies as the Ministry of Home Affairs issued orders for them to continue to operate.
- It saw nearly 8.8 million households using home delivery services during lockdown.
- The draft e-pharmacy rules, which were originally intended to whip e-pharmacy businesses into shape were floated by the Ministry of Health in 2018.
- The rules were finalised, public comments were taken into consideration and they were almost on the brink of being notified.
Implications of the move :
- The demand for online delivery of drugs is burgeoning.
- There is a possibility that some of these businesses will go underground if banned, because people are not going to stop ordering medicines online anytime soon.
Syllabus : Prelims + Mains; GS3 – Health
