[india-drug] Sale of household remedies

["DIC MSPC" <dicmspc@hathway.com>]

Sale of household remedies 
********** 

Below is the edit from Pharmabiz for discussion and debate.

SALE OF HOUSEHOLD REMEDIES
Wednesday, July 19, 2006 08:00 IST 
P A Francis

The government's reported decision to amend Schedule K of the Drugs & Cosmetics Act to allow sale of household remedies without a drug license is a well intended move to increase the access of non prescription medicines across the country. Although such unlicensed sales of medicines are currently allowed in villages having a population of not more than 1000 persons, not many retail outlets have come forward to sell these products so far. The medicines which will be now available freely as per this amendment, are analgesic and antacid preparations, ointments for skin and burns, quinine tablets, cough syrups, etc. Apart from expanding the access to modern medicine, the government move is also with the intention to bring down the medical costs to some extent. Despite having 5 to 8 lakh retail chemists in the country, even commonly used medicines are not available to a large section of the rural population of India today. As retail chemists are hesitant to move into the rural areas, dependence of the other retail outlets is only option left to the government to reach commonly used medicines to maximum number of people. By allowing sale of widely used painkillers, balms and cough syrups without a license, such products can be freely made available through grocery shops and other retail stores in semi urban areas and villages. Numbers of such trade channels are considerably larger and widespread than retail chemists shops. For pharmaceutical companies and some of the FMCG corporations, marketing of household medicines is going to be a huge business opportunity with this measure. Entry of Hindustan Lever into pharmaceutical marketing with its launch of a cough syrup and a few other products some time ago is a clear indication of things to come.

A key issue here is the safety in using household medicines. As these products are likely to be taken without any medical advice, label comprehension with regard to disease symptoms, directions for use, warnings, etc are all extremely important. Tendency to take higher doses of an analgesic, for instance, and its use for longer periods could turn out to be quite dangerous for some. Generally labels on household medicines do not indicate specified doses for children. All these call for a drastic change in the labelling practices of these medicines if they have to be sold outside medical shops. Firstly, labelling of these products has to be in local languages and all the instructions have to be in simple and easily understandable. At present, very few pharma companies are printing labels in local languages. Some basic knowledge about medicines is also crucial amongst the traders who will be selling these over the counter products. It is extremely important, therefore, that the DCGI has to lay down a separate set of rules or guidelines for this class of products. The companies which will be entering into manufacturing and marketing of OTC products also have a responsibility to follow fair trade practices. 



Dr. (Mrs.) Sampada Patvardhan (Ph.D.Tech. Pharmacology)                
                        
In-Charge, Maharashtra State Pharmacy Council?s Drug Information Centre
E.S.I.S. Hospital Compound, L.B.S. Marg, Mulund (W), Mumbai-400 080 
Phone: 25930607  
Telefax: 25684291/25684418
"DIC MSPC" <dicmspc@hathway.com>