EFFORT VS EFFECT

The government's attempts to ensure quality drugs is evident, but how well new policies can be monitored on the ground remains to be seen

- Mohit Sharma

East Delhi resident Gaurav Kumar has entirely shifted to Jan Aushadhi Kendras for medicinal needs. He unequivocally dismisses doubts over the quality of drugs sold at the Centre-run kiosks. "The price difference is also whopping, 50-90 per cent," he says. Anil Vats, a retired government servant from Ghaziabad, says: "My lung disease tablets cost ₹250 per pack. At Jan Aushadhi, I get it for ₹60." 

To ensure quality, all batches supplied to over 10,000 Jan Aushadhi stores across 750 districts go through double checks. Ravi Dadhich, CEO, pharmaceuticals and medical devices bureau of India, ministry of chemicals and fertilizers, tells THE WEEK: "After procuring medicines from WHO GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) certified suppliers, each batch is again tested at our laboratories to ensure quality."

Certainly, these stores are striving to provide affordable generic medicines. This, however, is only a small part of the story. The ecosystem of generic drugs in India is far too wide and cumbersome. Generic or branded medicines have no specific definitions. They, for all purposes, generally "contain the same active ingredient in the same dosage form, intended to be administered by the same administrative route" as the branded drugs.

Dr Preeti Kumar, vice president, public health system support of the Public Health Foundation of India, explains: "There are primarily three types of drugs-generic, brandedgeneric and patented." She adds that the generic and patented together constitute around 20 per cent of the market. "The remaining 80 per cent is covered by branded-generics that constitute around 2,800 formulations and unique molecules for various diseases spanning over 55,000 brands," she says. "If we keep the patented drugs aside (which is only 8-10 per cent), the issue of quality remains with both generic and branded-generics and it is not entirely correct to equate branded-generic with quality."