The All India Drugs Control Officers Confederation (AIDCOC) in coordination with Eluru Chemists and Druggists Association has organized a motorcycle rally to create awareness on AIDS, in which AIDCOC officials and over 400 chemists took part.

The rally was conducted at Koyyalagudem in West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh on Friday. This rally was conducted as part of the State Government’s AIDS awareness initiative, which started from July 1, 2005 in the state.

The AIDCOC decided on initiating activities to benefit consumers in its national convention held during October 2004 at New Delhi. And this is a step forward in this direction, AIDCOC officials said.

In the convention, AIDCOC has recognized the need for creating awareness among consumers about the batch numbers and expiry date of medicines, collecting purchase bills, buying medicines only on prescription, educating chemists on storage of medicines and confirming the storage status before dispensing the drugs from the stores, and overall awareness on drug safety. AIDCOC is to display hoardings creating awareness about these aspects starting from Visakhapatnam, followed by Vijayawada, both in AP.

AIDCOC is also planning to organize a workshop for local consumer group leaders, chemists and activists in rural and tribal areas.