With prevailing practices in Pharma Trade in 6.5 lakh villages country need is for over 1 lakh JA Kendras

Ministries & Promoting Agencies naming JA like ‘cheap medicines’, ‘medicines for poor’ too harm ‘PM’s Mission’

PM is ‘single-handedly’ taking stresses on all economic & social fronts like Jan Aushadhi Pariyojna

DAYA SAGAR

The way the people in India were being ‘mercilessly’ fleeced by the pharma manufacturers, pharma traders & the prescription writers combine and the sickness & the mounting adverse pressures of the ‘unfair’ trading practices in pharmaceutical trade must have been the reasons in mind, particularly with Ram Vilas Paswan, the then Union Petroleum Minister, the Jan Aushadhi Campaign was launched in 2008 for marketing particularly the patent free drugs under generic name / chemical name through Jan Aushadhi outlets/ Kendras to be operated by Bureau of Pharma PSEs of India BPPI ( now Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India -PMBI) so as to dismantle the unfair trade practices adopted by many pharma companies to the extent that even the patent free medicines were being tagged with very unreasonably inflated price tags that were sold with the help of some prescription writers ( even 3 to 7 to even more times higher than what a genuine reasonable MRP could be,as is also being presently “displayed in the banners at PMBJA Kendras which say medicines and devices there are 50 to 90 % cheaper than being sold by others under brand names ). Not only that the trade could be done to save people of unbearable costs of medicines by government companies even without any financial subsidy / support from government ( 0f course it had to be ensured that the prescription writers write prescriptions by chemical / generic name, atleast the government doctors would be made to do so which has not been effectively there on ground even after 15 years).
Even if we take that the MRP at drug Aushadhi stores is 50% less than others in the ‘ patent free drug trade’ Indian patients ( rich or poor ) then going by the annual financial reports( PMBI)it will not be wrong to say that still Indians of all segments are being unfairly fleeced of nearly INR 170000 Cr in a year. It has to be noted that revenue of PMBI, as displayed, includes sales of medical devices/ surgical appliances.
The present status of Pharma trade which has still been left free for ‘unfair trade’ even when (i)Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been taking very very intimate interest for promoting the sale from Jan Aushadhi Kendras after 2016-17 (ii) the large pharma market is available to the patent free drugs from Jan Aushadhi Kendras where same type &quality is available to the patients even in cases @ one half @ one 10th of the price ( 90% less) of patent free drugs in market with Brand name (iii) for opening a Jan Aushadhi Kendra provision is there to also provide financial / infrastructural support through Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India ( PMBI) likeincentive to Kendras upto ? 5 Lakh like @15% of monthly purchase made from PMBI subject to a ceiling of ?15,000/- per month in addition to retailer discount / margin (iv) unless the prevailing practices in pharmaceutical trade also adopt the culture of reasonably fair MRP tags for branded generic medicines or also start selling with chemical name as well as the ‘doctors’ too start writing prescription by chemical name there could be market available for atleast 100,000 outlets in India for JA Kendras (and in case Pharma industry gets reformed many may not come for JA stores but in that case 5 Central PSEs too will relieved of challenge from unfair trade practices of ‘others’).

JA Outlets of PMBI have not reasonably relieved Indians of Unfair MRP tags inspite PM’s Extra Interest in PMJABP, Why ?
The Jan Aushadhi Drugs are not to save money only of the poor but are to save for all citizens,.

Why so when Jan Aushadhi Medicines bear very Genuine Price tags as compared to Branded Generic Medicines?

One would ask why has not the PMBI / Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers been able to carry the programme even when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has involved his person intimately with Pariyojna and is always there to extend all help ?
The answer could be (i) It has been / is only PM alone who is religiously committed to PMBJAP and has been promoting it ‘daily’ even outside events like Jan Aushadhi Divas/week (ii) The H&ME Departments have not been religiously working for enforcing writing prescriptions by chemical name (iii ) In ‘states’ like J&K in 2017 orders were issued for establishment of prescription audit units in Government institutions to work on regular day basis but that have remained only formality (iv) BPPI/ PMBI have failed to follow up with the governments for enforcement of prescription writing by even Govt. Doctors (v) JA campaign has not received needed support from the practicing / prescription writing doctors, instead messages ‘flash’ introducing Generic medicines as inferior medicines (vi) PMBI/related institutions related rarely are seen working on ground/ visiting doctors for promoting prescription writing by chemical name which results in very slow growth in JA Aushadhi client traffic which is discouraging for entrepreneurs (vii) limited media campaigns by political leaders as well as the marketing personnel too have been pointing in wrong directions with slogans like “cheap medicines” , “medicines for the poor”, “programme of the government for the poor”, even some go to the extent of saying that the Jan Aushadhi medicines are costing less since government contributes; whereas (a) The JA drugs cost less because they are genuinely / fairly priced but others in market are with inflated margins (b) There is no subsidy from the Government on JA Drugs (c) The Jan Aushadhi Drugs are not to save money only of the poor but are for all citizens.

(The author is Sr Journalist, social activist and analyst J&K affairs [email protected]).