Date:03/05/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/05/03/stories/2005050315680300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Round-the-clock pharmacies becoming popular in the city

Staff Reporter

Many citizens find these shops `extremely helpful'

saving lives: The Cash Pharmacy in Bangalore. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: Been in a situation where a loved one had an asthma attack late in the night and you have no idea about the whereabouts of the inhaler? What is the one thing you hope for at such a moment? Just pray that a medical shop is open. You rush to one and save a life. Catering to such medical emergencies are the city's mushrooming 24-hour pharmacies.

"The service is highly appreciated," says Dr. Raghu. "They should be given due recognition as keeping a shop open for 24 hours a day is not an easy task," he adds. Agrees Shanthala, a first year college student: "Medical emergencies do not occur by schedules, so having a 24-hour medical store in the neighbourhood is a great boon." Bangaloreans generally welcome them, calling the pharmacies as "Lifesavers."

At Metri medicals, arguably the first 24-hour pharmacy in the city, customers stream in and out throughout the night. "We have around 50 customers at night times wanting different kinds of medicines," says the pharmacy proprietor, Shrishail Metri. With a staff of eight working in two different shifts, the pharmacy has been in the business since 1985.

So do these 24-hour pharmacies hinder the growth of the only-day-time pharmacies? "They may sometimes," feels Sumathi of Cash Pharmacy. "But ours is an established one, so we do not find it a problem. But I must say that the 24-hour pharmacies are doing a good job," she adds.

Maheshwar, unit head of another pharmacy, Pill and Powder, finds the 24-hour job extremely helpful, particularly during night. "It has not caused any hindrance to our business," he says.

While the 24-hour pharmacies are hugely popular, the city is witnessing another trend: The growth of mega pharmacies, glitzy, spacious and upmarket. But apparently, their presence does not pose a threat to the small, neighbourhood medical stores.

"I think it is proximity that matters. At the time of an emergency, I would obviously prefer to go to the closest medical store rather than look for a huge pharmacy," says Shubham, a Human Resources consultant.