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A recent survey revealed that consumers have experienced inconvenience in purchasing over-the-counter (OTC) medicines such as a fever reducer or cold medicine at night or on holidays.
The Korea Consumer Agency (President: Kim Young-seen, www.kca.go.kr) has recently conducted a survey targeting 500 consumer living in Seoul and the five Metropolitan Cities during Oct. 4th ~ 6th, 2010 and found that 80.4% of the respondents said that they had experienced some discomfort in buying non-prescription drugs as drug stores closed at night or on holidays.
To ease the problem, the consumers pointed out areas for improvement as follows: 1) sales of OTC drugs (once the safety has been secured) at retail stores (32.4%); and 2) making the shift system for drug stores at night or on holidays compulsory (29.8%). Meanwhile, 79.4% of the consumers expressed their willingness to purchase non-prescription medicines at stores (supermarket and convenience store) outside the drug industry if the OTC drug sale out of drug store is available.
Consumers who are sick at night or on holidays should wait until the next morning when the drug store opens or rush to the emergency room even when they are not in an emergency situation, as even non-prescription drugs with proven safety such as fever reliever and cold medicine can be purchased at drug stores only in Korea at present, In particular, consumers residing in rural areas face more difficulties in this respect as there is no drug store in 215 small administrative areas (1 Town and 214 Townships).
Based on these findings, the KCA made a suggestion to the Ministry of Health & Welfare for system improvement related to the OTC drug purchase such as 1) making the shift system for drug stores at night or on holidays compulsory; and 2) allowing OTC drug sales outside of drug stores.
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