Online pharmacies to become legal soon, buyers will just need image of prescription

Online pharmacies to become legal soon, buyers will just need image of prescription
Online pharmacies to become legal soon, buyers will just need image of prescription

New Delhi: The Modi government is moving to legalise the online sale of medicines, which will allow consumers to buy medicines by just uploading scanned pictures or mobile phone screenshots of prescriptions issued by registered medical practitioners.

A top official of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which is overseeing the project, said the government has ironed out one of the creases that had held back the scheme — the format for what constitutes an ‘e-prescription’.

“The final notification will define the meaning of an e-prescription, which is essentially a scanned picture or a mobile-phone clicked picture of a prescription issued by a registered medical practitioner,” the official said. “Earlier, the draft did not mention what e-prescription is.”

The official further said that the draft notification for the scheme has received government approval.

“The final notification is expected to come anytime within this month,” said the official. “The draft notification has already been approved by the top advisory body of the government, with only a recommendation to introduce a clause explaining the meaning of ‘uploading the e-prescription’ in the final notification on e-pharmacy.”

Legalising online sale of medicines in India is on the Modi government’s 100-day agenda since it returned to power on 23 May.

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