OTC sales to boom in India

Its August 30, 2006 report says 80% of OTC healthcare products were sold through chemists and drug stores, with the rest going to grocery stores (only in rural areas with less than 1,000 inhabitants) and direct sales. "But the industry has requested that this stipulation be dropped. Wider access to non-prescription products will bring opportunities for manufacturers to sell to a wider consumer base and will allow retailers to expand their current product offering, thereby improving the quality of healthcare in the country."

Euromonitor says the legislation is subject to approval, but would "undoubtedly boost sales of these products across the country, above the 3% Compound Annual Growth Rate predicted for the next five years. The sectors that are most likely to benefit are analgesics and digestive remedies, aimed at more common ailments."

Despite the optimism, Euromonitor's report offered the following advice to makers of OTC products:

* "The decision to widen OTC distribution through non-pharmacy outlets does generate concern about the level of consumer confidence in self-medication. Given low adult literacy rates (61%), consumers may be unable to read or comprehend labels that could lead to overdose or unintended drug interactions."

* "Manufacturers would be advised to work closely with government to ensure that educational seminars are given to pharmacy/non-pharmacy employees and in schools to raise the importance of self-medication and demonstrate safe usage, which will help consumers to become more confident with self-medication."

* "In addition, manufacturers should also consider including visual information to allow safe use of these products by the less educated population. The diversity of languages in India makes this market harder to penetrate and hence the need to provide product information in multiple languages to optimize sales for the manufacturers and safety for the end-user is paramount."