With an idea to make generic medicines available to the public at low costs, the government has come up with an initiative to set up Jan Aushadhi stores at 1000 major railways stations in the country.
In a statement released today, the government has come up with this initiative. They also stated that the government has plans to set up these generic medical stories at bus stands. With this, the government wanted to create a network between towns and villages.
In a press conference, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar stated that they are making efforts to provide the prescriptions of these generic medicines by the doctors to make the patients benefit with this.
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“I have plans to discuss with Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu to open Jan Aushadhi Stores (JAS) in as many as 1000 major railways stations across the country,” he said.
He revealed the reason behind this decision to make the medicines at affordable prices to the underprivileged people living in villages and towns. “I am also planning to write a letter to state CM’s to set up these generic medical stores in every bus stand.”
After BJP came into rule, they have set up around 1,320, and earlier the count used to be just 88 when Congress was in power. “By the end of 2017, they are going to have least 3,000 generic medical stores in India, and the turnover is likely to touch Rs. 60 crores from Rs. 3 crores which are the current revenue.”
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He also stated that the companies who have proper certification from WHO will be ensured for this initiative. “Among the 10,000 pharmaceutical companies across India, only 1,400 companies have WHO certification and these companies are eligible to apply for tender,” adding, “We decided to make the youngsters be part of JAS, and so far we have received 30,000 applications.”
Regarding the basket of medicines in these stores, he stated that as many as 500 herbs and 150 health supplements had covered 23 therapeutic areas in JAS. They are planning to focus on diseases like heart ailments, diabetes, BP, HIV and respiratory problems. The Medical Council of India has already issued circulars to all doctors by making prescription compulsory for generic medicines.
The government clarified that they have no intention to out a ban on branded drugs across the country. He also said that the drug development should be happening in India.