Dimapur, May 24 (EMN): Chemists and pharmacies across Nagaland have been informed to shut business from 6 am to 6 pm on May 30 next “in public interest”. This information was contained in a press release issued by the Nagaland Medicine Dealers Association (NMDA) on Wednesday.
According to the NMDA, this call for ‘bandh’ (shutdown) was ‘in compliance with the call given by the All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) for a nationwide bandh of all wholesale/ retail chemists in protest against introduction of E-marketing/online pharmacy by the government of India’.
The introduction of online pharmacies, the NMDA stated, would give easy access of ‘restricted drugs’ to ‘anti social elements and drug addicts by approaching different online outlets with same prescription’. Even submission of ‘duplicate prescription’ for procuring restricted drugs has come to the knowledge of the association, it informed.“Information of delivery of inferior quality of medicines has also come to the notice of association which can result in death of patient also. More than 8.5 lakh chemists and 50 lakh families dependent on medicine trade will be directly affected by the giant online medicine traders established in cosmopolitan cities of the country, which affects especially remote state like us.
“Keeping in view all the above major problems besides financial losses faced by the chemist fraternity, the NMDA has called upon all the chemists/pharmacies in different districts throughout Nagaland to keep their pharmacies closed in the larger interest of entire chemist fraternity”, the press release read.
