To make a people oriented programme like Jan Aushadi a success in a
country like India, support of state governments, medical practitioners
and other stakeholders is crucial. One of the main reasons for the slow
progress of Jan Aushadi is the lack of this support from the state
governments and medical profession. Perhaps, Gujarat is one state that
has given some support by launching the Jan Aushadhi stores in a few
government hospitals.
The state government is also motivating doctors working in the government hospitals to prescribe unbranded generic medicines to the patients. Most of the other state governments have not extended such support to this programme as yet. However, state governments like Andhra and Kerala have launched their own subsidised medicine programme by setting up government owned chains providing both branded and unbranded drugs at 20 to 25 per cent lower than the market prices. These regional initiatives,no doubt, have their own merits but what is required is to make the national programme a success throughout the country so that generic drugs will be available at uniformly lower prices to all. Regular procurement of quality drugs at low prices is an important task for the success of this scheme.
The department’s decision to source generic drugs from private sector manufacturers is thus a step in right direction. But the move to restrict such purchases to only from firms having an average annual turnover of Rs. 10 crore in the last three years is not fair. This will keep several small players having reputation of makers of quality drugs out of the programme. The procurement should not be too restrictive as that may discourage competition and lead to high procurement prices.
The state government is also motivating doctors working in the government hospitals to prescribe unbranded generic medicines to the patients. Most of the other state governments have not extended such support to this programme as yet. However, state governments like Andhra and Kerala have launched their own subsidised medicine programme by setting up government owned chains providing both branded and unbranded drugs at 20 to 25 per cent lower than the market prices. These regional initiatives,no doubt, have their own merits but what is required is to make the national programme a success throughout the country so that generic drugs will be available at uniformly lower prices to all. Regular procurement of quality drugs at low prices is an important task for the success of this scheme.
The department’s decision to source generic drugs from private sector manufacturers is thus a step in right direction. But the move to restrict such purchases to only from firms having an average annual turnover of Rs. 10 crore in the last three years is not fair. This will keep several small players having reputation of makers of quality drugs out of the programme. The procurement should not be too restrictive as that may discourage competition and lead to high procurement prices.
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