Jan Aushadhi redux: will the generic drug scheme work this time around?
The NDA government plans to relaunch Jan Aushadhi, a UPA scheme that aimed at making low-priced generic drugs available to the public.Union minister of state for chemicals, drugs and fertilisers, Hansraj Ahir, on Wednesday, inaugurated a new Jan Aushadi store in Laxmi Nagar, Delhi.
The price difference between branded and generic drugs is significant. For instance, Cetrizine, an anti-allergy drug is available at Rs 2.75 at a Jan Aushadhi store, about 7 times less than the retail price of Rs 20 per strip.
Drugs from various therapeutic groups such anti-diabetic, cardiac, gastro, anti-infective, analgesic and respiratory and vitamins will be stocked in the Jan Aushadhi stores.
A failed scheme
The Jan Aushadhi campaign was launched in April 2008 by Ram Vilas Paswan, the then minister for chemicals and fertilisers.The scheme flopped badly with many stores closing down way before the government was even close to its target.
According to the last study conducted by the the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), only 182 Jan Aushadhi stores have been opened across 16 states/Union Territories, out of which only 111 stores are in operation as on 13 July 2015..
As per the Jan Aushadi website, only 108 stores provide generic medicines. Delhi has only five such stores, one of which is located inside Shastri Bhawan.Originally, the scheme had envisaged an outlet in every government hospital.
The NDA is even more ambitious. Ahir says that the aim is to launch 3,000 stores, three times of what the UPA had planned.
However, he admitted that there will be some delay in relaunching the scheme due to a general shortage of generic medicines.
For more read story here: http://www.catchnews.com/health-news/jan-aushadhi-redux-will-the-generic-drug-scheme-work-this-time-around-1441441875.html
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