Puducherry launches raids against private chemists flouting norms on anti-TB drugs sale

Written By : Ruchika Sharma |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2025-07-08T15:45:41+05:30 | Updated On 8 July 2025 3:45 PM IST

New Delhi: The Puducherry administration has intensified efforts to curb the unauthorized sale of anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs by private retailers, launching raids against those violating the ban on such sales.

These joint enforcement operations are being carried out by the State TB Cell in collaboration with the Department of Drugs Control.

In alignment with the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), the Puducherry administration implemented the ban on the sale of anti-TB drugs by private chemists, Dr S Govindarajan, Mission Director of National Health Mission (NHM), Puducherry, told PTI.

The move, initiated in 2017, followed directives from the Central TB Division, Union Health Ministry advising that anti-TB drugs are dispensed exclusively through government channels to guarantee strict treatment adherence and minimize the risk of drug-resistant TB, he said.

"Despite the initial ban, instances of non-compliance by a few chemists prompted the State TB Cell, in coordination with the Department of Drugs Control, to launch targeted joint enforcement raids," he said.

These inspections aimed both at preventing unauthorised sales and to sensitise chemists regarding the public health implications of selling anti-TB drugs without notifying the State TB Officer (STO), Dr C Venkatesh, STO, said.

As part of ongoing efforts, multiple awareness meetings were held with wholesalers, retailers, and pharmacists across Puducherry, Dr Govindrajan informed.

"They were instructed to stop dispensing anti-TB drugs to patients and instead report such cases using a standardised notification form," he said.

These reports enabled the STO office to track patients and ensure treatment completion, Dr Govindarajan stated.

"The druggists were again and again educated in a series of meeting that the selling of anti-TB drugs outside to TB patients lent to non-completion of full course of drug intake by the patient and the patient might become defaulter or the patient turned into Multi-Drug-Resistant TB (MDR-TB) case which was dreadful than the profit the druggist made from the sale," he said.

Over time, these measures have yielded notable success, Dr Venkatesh said.

"The sale of anti-TB drugs through private channels has significantly declined," he said.

Most chemists have voluntarily withdrawn from stocking TB medications due to low demand.

Additionally, private practitioners in the UT were sensitised and are now actively reporting TB cases to the STO, thus bringing more patients under the government-supported treatment regimen, Dr Venkatesh said.

The State TB Cell has established three dedicated teams to conduct evening visits to private clinics for one-on-one discussions with practitioners, emphasising the importance of notifying TB cases and supporting treatment completion.

"So far, eight joint raids have been conducted in the last two months, and prosecution was initiated against a chemist found violating the directives," Dr Venkatesh said.

These sustained efforts have ensured that all TB patients in Puducherry are now notified under the programme and are receiving free anti-TB drugs from government sources, with continuous monitoring to ensure full treatment adherence.

The initiative underscores the administration's commitment to preventing the emergence of Multi-Drug-Resistant TB (MDR-TB), a serious threat linked to poor treatment compliance and unregulated drug availability, Dr Venkatesh added.

Puducherry has slashed its TB incidence by an impressive 59 per cent compared to 2015 levels, earning it a 'silver medal' in India's sub-national TB certification in 2022.

The Union territory is deploying modern screening and diagnostic tools - AI-enabled chest X-rays and NAAT at scale to identify patients early.

National Tuberculosis Elimination ProgrammeTB drugtuberculosis

Source : with inputs

Ruchika Sharma

Ruchika Sharma joined Medical Dialogue as an Correspondent for the Business Section in 2019. She covers all the updates in the Pharmaceutical field, Policy, Insurance, Business Healthcare, Medical News, Health News, Pharma News, Healthcare and Investment. She has completed her B.Com from Delhi University and then pursued postgraduation in M.Com. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in Contact no. 011-43720751

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751