Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin instructed to expedite the adoption of a bill that allows the remote sale of OTC (over-the-counter) drugs and their delivery due to an increase in the number of patients with coronavirus in the country. The State Duma may pass the law on selling drugs on the Internet on Thursday, March 19, Andrei Isaev, the first deputy head of the United Russia faction in the State Duma, announced this to REGNUM.
According to Victor Dmitriev, Director General of the Association of Russian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, the sale and delivery of OTC medicines can be allowed, but it is necessary to approach this carefully, taking into account all possible risks.
“The peculiarity of our mentality is that we love to self-medicate. Often, due to the lack of special knowledge, people treat ARVI with antibiotics or simply relieve symptoms without going to the doctor, aggravating their condition. Thus, the spread of the virus will not only not decrease, but also the clinical picture will intensify and “smear”, Victor Dmitriev noted.
Delivery and sale of drugs should be carried out only by a specialist with a medical education: a pharmacist. The courier must have a medical record and personal protective equipment against coronavirus. “It is not uncommon for couriers to suffer from chronic diseases of the upper respiratory tract, oral cavity, not to monitor hand hygiene, have barbs, etc. The main thing in today’s situation is that he or she be healthy, undergo a daily check, have a liquid for hands disinfection. Otherwice it turns out that the drug dealers will become the virus distributors,” he said.
In Russia, 93 patients with coronavirus have been registered, which means today there is no epidemic in the country. All necessary anti-epidemic measures are carried out.
“There is no need to escalate the situation, there is a threat of the spread of the virus, but this is not an epidemic,” Victor Dmitriev summed up.
Recall that in Russia today, the remote sale of drugs is prohibited. Officially, you can only reserve a medicine through the Internet, and pick it up only on your own in a pharmacy. According to statistics, about 4-5% of the total market now goes through online orders, the average receipt for booking drugs on the Internet is about 4 times higher than in an offline pharmacy. Experts in the pharmaceutical industry supported the bill, but expressed concern that a huge amount of counterfeit drugs could flood the market.
The Ministry of Health has developed a bill allowing the retail sale of OTC drugs over the Internet in 2017.
ARPM Press Service