“We are vulnerable but we don’t stop working,” local pharmacist in Srinagar seeks cooperation, safety

Mubair Manzoor Bhat

The neighbourhood pharmacy has become a lifeline for residents of Srinagar, which has witnessed the highest Covid-19 cases in the past year. Pharmacies are the holding fort for residents of Srinagar when most of the hospitals are witnessing a rush of Covid patients.

Besides impacting the economy, the Covid-19 pandemic has also severely strained the existing healthcare systems all over the world, especially in Kashmir. Just like other parts of the world, pharmacists in Kashmir are at the forefront of managing the Covid-19 crisis as they are a direct link to common people for procurement of medicines - whether Covid-19 medicines or other drugs. Many of these pharmacists are working in close contact with doctors and health practitioners in providing service to common people.  A lot of these pharmacists are working in extreme conditions, and face pressures from society to be available for them at all times.

In times like these, with lockdown in place, a pharmacy is an essential service that common people cannot live without.

Talking to Rising Kashmir, a pharmacist from Srinagar Farooq Ahmad said that they are trying to remain safe from the unseen enemy coronavirus, which has claimed over 3000 lives in Jammu and Kashmir so far.

Farooq said that all pharmacists in Kashmir, especially in Srinagar, are working hard to provide essential medicine for the common people in the middle of a global health crisis.

"I have been working day and night for the Covid-19 patients," Farooq said.

Farooq said that because he was working for the relief of Covid-19 patients, many people would hesitate to buy drugs from his chemist shop. "There has been a decrease in the number of customers and this has impacted my economic life," he said.

Talking about the challenges that pharmacists face daily, Farooq said that "customers who visit his shop can be infected with Covid or have symptoms but we still attend to them and provide them medicine. We can't be sure about every customer. We are very vulnerable to getting infected," he said, adding, "All of us are wearing masks at the shop but we fear it’s not enough."

Farooq opines that the government needs to come up with a framework for drug distribution while pharmacists have ID cards, everybody at the shops is not a pharmacist. "There are porters, computer operators and managers and all of them are required for the distribution chain to work smoothly," Farooq said.

Farooq further said that pharmacists should note the address or at least the contact number of the persons buying medicines for cold, cough and sneezing and should report to the state authorities if any patient demands such medicine frequently. "Such measures should be taken against those who are trying to suppress and hide their symptoms," he added.