Pharmacists say that their businesses have not been able to recover since the pandemic began a year ago.
BENGALURU- Pharmacists in the city are still facing losses due to the pandemic. Vidya, one of the pharmacists working in Maruthi Pharma said, “Due to Covid, we have lost more than 60-70 percent of the whole business.”
Many pharmacists said that people are avoiding going to hospitals and as a result, most customers do not have proper prescriptions. Due to this, they have to refuse to sell medicines that require prescription. Poornima, a pharmacist in Bangalore said, “Only over-the-counter medicines like paracetamol are getting sold.”
Krishnamurthy K. Harish, Managing Company Member, Karnataka Chemists and Druggists Association said that people do not have the money to buy expensive medicines that usually come with prescriptions.
Karnataka has around 24,000 registered pharmacists. A registrar working at the Karnataka State Pharmacy Council said that the pandemic has not led to a decline in pharmacists’ registrations. However, a report from the market research firm All India Organization of Chemist and Druggist Association (AIOCD-AWACS) showed that the trend of growth of the Indian pharma has reduced from 4.5 percent in January 2021 to 1.1 percent in February 2021. The market research report said that there are still many sectors in the pharmaceutical industry that are yet to recover.
