Home delivery of medicine

Home delivery service is getting its ground gradually. In this capital, the traditional home delivery is milk by 'goalas' (men who depend on milching cows for their livelihoods). Fishmongers are the next to take order for occasional delivery of fish unlike the cattle keepers who have to supply milk on a daily basis.

However the kind of home delivery now becoming popular is of a completely different proposition. This has been possible because of easy communication courtesy mainly of cell phone. Some are seasonal businesses and others carry on round the year. For example, a few individual initiatives for supplying mangoes to customers at home particularly after widespread allegations of artificial ripening with chemicals were launched with success.

Then a few small firms or group of young people formed supplying chains for grocery, vegetables and fruits. But those are yet to be popular. Some large organisations like Aarong under Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) went for home delivery of their dressed-up chicken. Ads on this service were carried in newspapers but little is known about the same any more.

If all such services failed to draw a large number of clientele's attention, on the prepared food front the wind seems to be blowing rather propitiously. A lot of brand fast-food joints including bakeries have an array of foods to choose from and go for home delivery. Pizza and other popular foods including set menus are delivered quite hot with young men on motor cycles running the errand. So it has made convenient for many who are ready to part with a small service charge for such home delivery.

In Dhaka city, it is difficult to visit a restaurant located in Banani from a place on the western fringe. It takes a lot of time for a car to negotiate the heavy traffic all the way. But if on-line order is placed, the ordered food will not take long to reach the customer. So it is not only convenient but also cheaper and hassle-free. The advantage here is that foods maintain the same quality. But the same cannot be said about vegetables and fish. It is only natural that their supply will depend on their catch and the types available on a particular day or time. Pizza or for that matter prepared foods have no such problem unless of course the cook or chef makes a horrible blunder.

If many people are aware of the existence of such arrangements, few know that there are pharmacies which reach medicines home on order. This is certainly a most essential service that has no reason not to click. Already two such suppliers have been in the market. They take orders of medicines and supply those to addresses very punctually. After all, here is some commodity involving people's life and death. Medicine is mostly a matter of emergency and if a patient can take delivery of some medicine not available in the nearest drug store, what a great service it becomes to the ailing person!

However, there is a need for making such supplying pharmacies' activity known to as many people as possible. They are likely to expand their business because of increasing demand. It is good to know that such home delivery service is not guided by profit motive alone. One such organisation (www.ousud.com) takes only a charge of Tk 50 if the value of the ordered medicine is below Tk 350. But for medicine of higher value, it takes no delivery charge. In certain areas, they do not charge at all for the service. Another such supplier supply medicine if the price is above Tk 500.

Yet another on-line service is engaged in delivering medical equipment such as bed pan, wheel chair etc., in order to make life easier for people in dire needs. These are not only commercial ventures but also humanitarian services. The pioneers of such services can take pride in the commercial ventures they have embarked on.