Hyderabad: The banning of single use plastic in the medical field is very dicey what with IV fluids, blood bags, disposable gowns and gloves and other items falling in this category, and by their very nature being disposable.
The phasing out of plastic carry bags, bottles, containers and cups is easy, but packaging of medicines, syringes, needles etc will require a great deal of detailed thought and planning.
Sanjay Reddy, president of the Telangana Pharmacist Association says that “at the pharmacists’ end, single use plastics are already being replaced with paper bags. But there is no clarity on how manufacturers will supply the medicines. Ninety per cent of medicines are packed in plastic bottles. Will they also fall in the single-plastic use category?”
The industry has to either resort to glass bottles again or look at other safe bio-medical alternatives. The process of changing over will require at least two to three years and a lot of investment.
Ramesh Gupta of the Andhra Pradesh Chemists and Druggists Association says the change will at present be at the retail level. “The phase of manufacturers is not going to happen now. The discussion at the government level was with all organisations, including the manufacturers, but they need to have an alternative to switch to.” The effort is first to stop chemists from handing out medicines in plastic bags or wrappers, but the bigger issue of packaging and disposables needs more than just a grand statement from the prime minister to be realised.
