: Concerned about spiralling prices of medicines to treat diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular conditions, the Centre’s Department of Pharmaceuticals plans to offer 439 life-saving medicines, including cancer and cardiovascular drugs, as well as 250 medical devices like stents and implants at 40-50% discounted prices.
The drugs and devices will be made available through the Jan Aushadhi stores opened across the country.
Presently, only 45 medicines are available in 121 such stores.
The Indian pharmaceuticals market is the third largest in terms of volume and thirteenth largest in terms of value, as per trade watchers.
Branded generics dominate the pharmaceuticals sector, constituting nearly 70 to 80 per cent of the market. India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally with the Indian generics accounting for 20 per cent of global exports in terms of volume.
Now aiming to pass the benefit to its people, the government is bringing in schemes to bring down prices of essential medicines without using direct price regulation. The government has floated tenders in a bid to get the new plan rolling.
“The government is trying to bulk procure medicines directly from companies at a discounted price and then pass on the benefit to consumers. Under the new plan, the government has formed a nodal agency – Bureau of Pharma Public Sector Undertakings of India (BPPI) — to implement this project. BPPI has the responsibility of floating tenders to invite applications for supply of medicines from pharmaceutical companies. It also oversees all other supply chain related issues,” said a senior health official.
The road to the scheme, however, isn’t an easy one with a recent report by a Parliamentary Committee stating that as little as Rs. 16.86 crore was used out of the allocated Rs. 75 crore in the past three years.
“While Rs. 30 crore was allocated at the budgetary expenditure stage for Jan Aushadhi scheme for 2014-15, the finance ministry reduced the amount to nil in its revised expenditure due to non-utilisation of funds,” noted the panel.
The government, on its part, maintained that it plans to open 300 more Jan Aushadi stores by March 2016 and 3,000 more during 2016-17. Further, rules have been relaxed to allow opening of stores anywhere outside the hospital premises as well.
