Karnataka is planning to set up 500 more Jan Aushadi Kendras in the State in the next six months.
Disclosing this to reporters before attending a video conference programme in Mysuru involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction with beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadi Pariyojana (PMBJP) Monday, Health Minister K. Sudhakar said 952 out of the total 9,000 Jan Aushadi stores in the country were located in Karnataka.
The Health Department has set a target of opening 500 more stores across the country in the next six months. Once the target is achieved, Karnataka, which is presently in the third position in number of Jan Aushadi stores, will reach the top slot, he said.
He said the Jan Aushadi centres will have to be set up not only in taluk and district-level hospitals, but also at community and primary health centres. The centres should come up in public places so that they are easily accessible to the public.
Mr. Sudhakar said the generic medicine, which is available at an affordable price at the Jan Aushadi centres, was as good as branded medicine. “In terms of quality and efficacy, the generic medicine dispensed by Jan Aushadi centres is as good as branded medicine,” he said before adding that the price is less by 30 to 70% in comparison to branded medicine.
The chemical composition of the generic medicine is same as branded medicine and the same is made available in the market only after examination by the laboratories, he said. “There is no need for anybody to suspect the efficacy of quality of generic medicine simply because it is available at a lower cost,” he said adding that the generic medicine was also of export quality.
When his attention was drawn to the habit of medical practitioners including Goverment doctors prescribing branded medicine, Mr. Sudhakar said he will issue necessary instructions to Government doctors against such a practice.
Meanwhile, addressing the gathering of beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadi Pariyojana, Mr. Sudhakar called upon medical practitioners particularly private doctors not to prescribe expensive branded medicine particularly to poor patients, who cannot afford them. “Please don’t do it on humanitarian grounds,” he said.
Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Bhagwanth Khuba, who also spoke on the occasion, said a total of 1,451 types of medicine were now available at Jan Aushadi Kendras in the country.
Besides, another 240 surgical equipments including blood sugar testing equipment like glucometers and its strips were also available at the Jan Aushadi centres.
Earlier, speaking on the occasion, former Minister and BJP MLA S.A. Ramdas said Mysuru was among the first few centres in the country to have Jan Aushadi centres. Soon after the State’s first Jan Aushadi centre was set up at Victoria Hospital in 2010, one such outlet came up at K.R. Hospital in Mysuru.
