A week back, a family member of this scribe was scouring pharmacies across Itanagar-Naharlagun in search for a prescription medicine which according to the doctor must be readily available. After number of unfruitful visits, the person in question reached out to an e-pharmacy and the experience was great.

She just uploaded the prescription and the site despatched the medicine within a day reaching the consumer in three working days. For her and for many citizens especially residing in Arunachal this is a welcome development.

Consumer convenience and access is its stand out points. Easily accessible from mobile or computer, e-pharmacies are a lifesaver especially for patients who are already sick and not in a condition to go out to find a pharmacy. Online platforms can aggregate supplies, making otherwise hard to find medicines available to consumers across the country. Offline pharmacies can only keep limited inventory, resulting in a consumer having to ask multiple stores to get his or her medicine
 

Online sale of medicines is not a new concept especially in the West but in India it is just about a couple years old. Much like in e-commerce, discounts are prevalent, giving consumers the best of deals. When it launched it provoked the strong pharma retail lobby to protest the entry of online pharmacies. The All India Chemists and Druggists Organization (AICDO) protested in October, accusing online pharmacies of taking away their business by offering deep discounts. The association also claimed that these firms would lead to a deterioration in the quality of medicines as they need to be stocked at specified temperatures.

 

While the apprehensions may not all be baseless, but it is also a fact that this technology has ensured that patients get quick service and access to medicines. Loopholes exist in every system but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be plugged to make it more secure.

Itanagar by NorthEast standards is quite the urban city but as the case citied above shows, getting your hands on medicines can still be a challenge. So, one can imagine for the rest of Arunachal. Online shopping has given consumers more power and control over their purchases and budget strings and so will the e-pharmacies. There will always be that fraction of the populace who might abuse the ready availability of medicines by skirting the rules but then why should all of the law abiding citizens be denied the convenience.

 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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