Over-the-counter drugs to be sold at some stores

From as early as next year, cough drops and pain killers will be sold at 24 hour-convenience stores while cigarette packaging will be labeled with images to discourage smoking, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Friday.

A day before the ministry’s report of next year’s plan to President Lee Myung-bak, the Korean Pharmaceutical Association said Thursday that its members will agree on sales of the so-called over-the-counter drugs at stores operated around-the-clock.

“In order to ease public access to household medicine at nighttime or holidays, we support the sales at 24 hour-convenient stores nationwide,” the group said in a press release. Instead, the sales at large supermarkets and discount stores will be banned. The agreement was delivered to the president on Friday morning.

The ministry came up with plans to allow OTC drugs sales earlier this year but the pertinent law revision has been delayed due to fierce resistance from pharmacists.

The agreement is expected to propel the revision passage once again, leading to actual sales as early as August.

Authorities also decided to push to insert pictures of lung cancer and other alarming images associated with smoking on cigarette packages. A relevant bill has been pending at the National Assembly for three years due to opposition from tobacco farms and distributors.

The ministry said in order to enhance public health and lower the national health insurance fund expenditure, it is necessary to lower the smoking rate, which is widely associated with the prevalence of a variety of diseases.

In many countries, cigarette package designs are used to discourage tobacco sales. The Canadian government recently obliged 75 percent of the cover of a cigarette pack to be filled with anti-smoking messages including images of men dying of lung cancer. In Uruguay, such images account for 80 percent of the cover of tobacco packages.

“The bill revision will help people understand the health hazard of puffing before they buy cigarettes,” a ministry official said.

The authorities also decided to push for a sales ban of liquor on school campuses, hospitals and other public locations.

“We are hoping this will lead to no consumption of alcohol at such places,” a ministry official said.

“The plan focuses on prevention of disease prevalence, especially chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension or hyperlipidemia. Curbing smoking and drinking will be effective.”

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)