The government's plan to include Schedule HX in the Drugs & Cosmetics Act is being strongly opposed by the Pharmaceutical Wholesalers Association (PWA) and the Retail Dispensing Chemists and Druggists Association (RDCA) as that can go against the interest of several lakhs of patients in the urban and rural areas.
As per the Schedule HX norms, all the antibiotics will be routed only through government hospitals. The association fears that if this comes into force the patients will suffer the most as there are not enough government hospitals in the country to support the need. PWA has urged that the government that it should agree to have a one on one discussion with all the stake holders so that it will help them to develop a join mechanism to control misuse of antibiotics.
Calling this proposed initiative as an untimely, impractical step Pharmaceutical Wholesalers Association (PWA) president Dilip Mehta informed that their association equivocally opposes this plan since the government has hardly planned anything in this regard. He said, “Antibiotics are very important for patients who need frequent dose of the same to fight diseases like tuberculosis, AIDS, etc. How can the government even try to think about implementing this Schedule HX as law which allows only government hospitals to dispense drugs to patients when there are not even enough hospitals in the country to meet the demands of these patients.”
Questioning the logic behind the government to take such a drastic step he pointed out, “Even we object to random selling of antibiotics everywhere without a proper prescription by the doctor. But the solution that the government has considered for this is certainly not plausible nor will it be effective since we do not have the means to do it. In the end it will be the patients who will suffer due to lack of timely medication.”
He added that before putting anything into the Act it should be studied thoroughly and structured in such a way that it will be useful to everyone especially the patients. Mehta adds, “What the government first needs to do is take initiative in making our healthcare system more organised, increase government funds for the same, understand local requirements and draft a law according to it but most importantly they should focus on developing infrastructure and training medical professionals according to the needs.”
He informed that they would completely support All India Association of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD's) decision and would be a part of the Bhararat Bandh in June against the proposed Schedule HX.
According to some sources it is reported that almost 40 to 42 per cent of the business comes from the sale of antibiotics which will be severely affected if this law comes into force.