Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said that the Indian pharmaceuticals industry is playing a leading role in the global market by working tirelessly to contribute towards greater good of mankind to ensure abundant availability of good quality pharmaceuticals of mass consumption at reasonable prices. 

"India’s steadfast commitment to work with partner countries shows our dedication in creating vibrant relationships and deepening this collaboration further from just trade to welfare,” stated Mandaviya as he interacted with Heads of Foreign missions from almost 100 partner countries, on Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana in presence of Union Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan. 

Speaking on the occasion, Mandaviya reinforced the need for improving sectors such as Health and Pharma across the world especially in the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic. Leveraging strong presence of India across the globe in generics, Mandaviya said that “India is rightfully called the pharmacy of the world. With 50 per cent exports and one of every five generic pills worldwide being produced in India, we contribute in a big way for making medicines affordable for people in many countries across the globe.”

He invited countries to look at the best practices by India and voluntarily implement them in their countries as per their local needs. He further emphasised India’s goal that remains “to focus on improving equitability, inclusivity along with access and affordability of medicines and medical devices for our citizens and to the World.”

In resonance with the vision of the Prime Minister, various healthcare programs and initiatives have been taken since 2014. He said that “the government has strived to provide affordable healthcare through interventions such as cashless treatment, the establishment of Health and Wellness Centers (AB-HWCs), and popularizing generic medicines through Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana”.

Reiterating the benefits of Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana, the Union Health Minister said that “this flagship program strives to provide quality medicines at an affordable rate to the common man, especially the poor, priced 50 per cent-80 per cent less than that of the commercial market.” Along with these benefits, Mandaviya highlighted that “Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana is a source for entrepreneurs to start retail businesses, provides widespread benefit to citizens and required budgetary support is low for governments.”

Reflecting on the benefits garnered from this program, Mandaviya elaborated on the possibility of this model being replicated in other countries. As a pilot, procurement of 50 fast moving medicines may be done by establishing linkages with Indian pharma exporters. Similar IT and supply chain systems, publicity strategies can be shared with other countries. 

He pointed out that countries, through similar intervention can provide their citizens access to affordable and quality generic drugs that will save them from import dependency on high-cost patented drugs, maximize welfare of their people, generate employment and bring economic benefit to households.

Highlighting about the health aspect in globalization, S Jaishankar, Union Minister of External Affairs stated that “Health cost is central to the core of the governance and prosperity. Even among developed countries, given the income disparity, the whole global debate on how to make health accessible has brought us together”. He noted that in this globalised world, “Triple A linkage” of Affordability, Accessibility and Availability needs to be focused upon. 

Progress Of Jan Aushadhi Kendra

The Health Ministry informed that over 1759 medicines to 280 surgical equipment and consumables are available at Jan Aushadhi Kendra. Whereas the number of outlets and the sales volume has increased by more than 100 times in past 8 years. On average, 1.2 million persons visit Jan Aushadhi outlets every day. The Ministry claimed that the centres have also resulted in savings in the out-of-pocket expenditure of beneficiaries, amounting to approximately Rs 20,000 crore (more than USD 2 Billion) in the past 8 years.