By Northlines – April 25, 2022
The Prime Minister's announcement inaugurating 108 Jan Aushadhi Kendras is a welcome step for the health care and welfare of the poor, lower middle class and needy among the common people and for those who cannot afford the expensive branded drugs and medicines. We often come across persons and families who continuously suffer from in-affordability to buy the prescribed or common medicines.
Jan Aushadhi Kendras are not new to Jammu Kashmir as the scheme was launched in the year 2010 and there were 120 Anaushdhi Kendras already fully or partially functional, mostly within the Government hospitals and health care centres across the Union Territory. With the latest addition, the strength will rise to 228 in number.
Under the scheme, dedicated outlets ‘Jan Aushadhi Kendras' (JAKs) are opened to provide generic medicines at affordable rates with quality and efficiency at par with branded medicine.
However, the unavailability of many drugs at these Kendras has been a common complaint among other issues pertaining to their functioning and viability. It is observed in the last decade that these JAKs were a failure in all three regions i.e. Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh as most of these did not get even the basic supply of life-saving drugs.
There are broadly three reasons responsible for such failures of this wonderful peoples' welfare scheme:
First is the Pharmaceutical Mafia that has corrupted and entangled the Medicos fraternity by resorting to malpractices by giving huge commissions, sponsoring domestic and foreign travel and tours, and offering expensive gifts like gold, jewellery, cars etc. In lieu of these corrupt practices, the medical fraternity has been avoiding prescribing generic medicines.
Secondly, a false impression has been created among the masses about the standard and quality of the generic drugs attributing these drugs to being manufactured by small-time companies that do not have Quality Control and R&D regimes.
Thirdly, the lack of sufficient supply of the important and life-saving drugs for these Jan Aushadhi Kendras has been causing disappointment among the consumers when they have to resort to buying expensive branded drugs for their non-availability.
According to a recent study, J&K has been one of the top consumers of medicines worth over a whopping Rs. 600 Cr annually of which 67 per cent of medicines are consumed in Kashmir valley alone. Findings said that 63% of J&K's population doesn't have purchasing power for buying medicines.”90.39% purchase drugs through out-of-pocket payments.
“Research has shown that out-of-pocket costs were lowered significantly among patients who were prescribed generic medicines compared to patients who were given branded drugs.”
The country's apex medical regulator, MCI has time and again warned the doctors of action if they fail to adhere to its guideline on prescribing the drugs only in generic names and writing prescriptions legibly. Similar calls have been reiterated by the Drug Controller of Jammu and Kashmir, but the malpractice has not been monitored and checked effectively and there is hardly any report of any action against the doctors on the ground. An early legal framework needed to be put in place to deal with the issue of such public importance.
A consistent campaign is the need of the hour to encourage people by creating awareness among them and clearing all false notions deliberately spread against the concept and scheme of generic medicines.
The proposed campaign should be focused on the prime features like the prices of the generic medicines (Jan Aushadhi) being 60%-90% less than that of branded medicines prices in the open market. Also to tell that medicines are procured only from World Health Organization – Good Manufacturing Practices (WHO-GMP) certified suppliers for ensuring the quality of the products. Each batch of the drug is tested at laboratories accredited by ‘National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) for ensuring the best quality.
Last but not the least, with more JAKs opening and with a special thrust by the Prime Minister of India, the awareness about the generic medicines and their demand would surely grow in J&K. The government has to ensure a generous supply of generic medicines to JAKs before implementing laws mandating prescription of generic drugs.
