The Union health ministry has dispelled fears of chemists about the restriction on antibiotics through the drug stores and apprehensions about the proposed antibiotic policy by inserting Schedule HX in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act (D&C Act), at least for the time being.


Sources said no decision had been taken yet on restricting the sale of 90 commonly prescribed antibiotics or restricting the sale of 16 medicines to tertiary care hospitals alone, as propagated by a section of chemists. The matter was still under consideration, Health Ministry sources clarified.


“Some representations have been received from various chemists and druggists associations, including the All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), against the suggestions of the Task Force on Antimicrobial Drug Resistance inter alia for a separate Schedule under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules to regulate the sale of antibiotics with a view to addressing the problem of multi drugs resistance arising out of widespread and indiscriminate use of antimicrobial drugs in the country,” sources said.


The clarification comes in the wake of reports that government would curb the sale of 90 antibiotics to put an end to the misuse of antibiotics. Sale of 16 medicines will be restricted to tertiary care hospitals directly and sale of 74 medicines only on the prescription of registered medical practitioners, according to chemists bodies who were lobbying against the move.


The AIOCD, the apex body of over 7 lakh licensed medicine sellers, had claimed that the move would cause an estimated loss of business worth Rs.5000 crore for the retail medical stores across the country.


The Task Force, headed by Director General of Health Services (DGHS), was constituted by the Government to assess, review and suggest measures on anti- microbial resistance, It has suggested various steps to rationalize the use of antibiotics in the country to control the increased microbial resistance due to indiscriminate use of antibiotics, which include inter alia a separate Schedule under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules to regulate sale of antibiotics, curtailing the availability of Fixed Dose Combinations (FDC), colour coding of third generation of antibiotics and restricting their access only to tertiary care hospitals, development of standardised Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing methodology, development of detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for microbial identification and for reporting and training of doctors etc.