Promulgation of premier drug policy in the state has led to several apprehensions pertaining to the impact of generic drug prescribing, as envisaged thereunder, on pharmaceutical business/trade in the state. Myths surrounding generic drugs are creating fears that medical representatives may be rendered jobless and pharmaceutical retailers/wholesalers of branded drugs may have to close their outlets. Fact of the matter is that no such thing is going to happen since generic drug prescribing shall for the time being be mandatory only for doctors working in govt. sector and generic drug procurement will apply on supply of drugs to govt. hospitals only. Doctors in private sector can continue to prescribe branded drugs as long as there is some suitable amendment to that effect in the existing drug policy and that is least likely to happen for several years to come given the fact that govt. took more than two years to frame this policy and an amendment in near future seems to be most unlikely even though it is desirable. Therefore those wholesalers or distributors who are not government suppliers can continue with their businesses as usual and even in case of govt. suppliers only the type of drug supply will change not the quantum. Medical representatives too can continue with promotion of branded drugs outside govt. hospitals and branded-generics (for explanation see below) within govt. hospitals. New drug policy won’t make them irrelevant or needless.
Further it is generally believed that generic drugs are sub-standard which is not always true. If there are stringent quality control measures available within state and within government health facilities, good quality generics can be ensured at ease. It all depends on how suppliers are selected for govt. supply, what pre-qualification and post-qualification criteria are fixed for them and what technical specifications are adopted during procurement. Tamil Nadu Medical Sales Corporation adopted generic drug procurement policy that drastically reduced drug costs and considerably increased drug availability and affordability without compromising on their quality. So much so that GOI asked all states to follow TNMSC model for procurement of drugs in govt. sector. No adverse impact was observed on indigenous pharmaceutical trade as a result of this policy adopted by the Tamil Nadu govt. Worldwide, use of generic drugs has led to immense benefits in every respect. The use of generic prescription medicines has saved Canada’s health-care system nearly $26-billion since 2007, according to an analysis of Canadian retail prescription drug sales information released on January 9th, 2012 by the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA). The data released today reinforces that the savings provided by generic prescription medicines are essential to the sustainability of both public and private drug benefit plans. Therefore it is very important that several myths surrounding the promotion and use of generic drugs are allayed to pave way for their wider acceptance by doctors, traders as well as patients in the state.
Under new regime, things are supposed to change. An essential list of 348 drugs is prepared first that can tackle not only critical cases but almost all disease conditions. Then only these EDs shall be procured by the govt on their generic or INN names and always kept available within the hospitals. Every effort has to be made to prevent stock-outs. Subsequently all drugs shall have to be prescribed and dispensed only by their generic name or International Non-proprietary Name (INN) in the public sector. Regular Prescription audits shall be commissioned in public hospitals to measure the compliance in this regard. So depending upon how efficiently govt is able to implement these provisions, patients will hardly need to purchase drugs from the open market. And if the system works well, medicos outside the hospitals will start stocking generic drugs and in case of an eventuality (when some drug is not available inside the hospital) generic drugs only will be dispensed by the private chemists.However existing draft of the drug policy does not spell out modalities for those exceptional cases when some drug outside the ED list may have to be prescribed. Regulations might not be too stringent under such situations and doctor may be allowed to prescribe as desirable (including branded). Under standard conditions though rules apply as specified.
Further it is generally believed that generic drugs are sub-standard which is not always true. If there are stringent quality control measures available within state and within government health facilities, good quality generics can be ensured at ease. It all depends on how suppliers are selected for govt. supply, what pre-qualification and post-qualification criteria are fixed for them and what technical specifications are adopted during procurement. Tamil Nadu Medical Sales Corporation adopted generic drug procurement policy that drastically reduced drug costs and considerably increased drug availability and affordability without compromising on their quality. So much so that GOI asked all states to follow TNMSC model for procurement of drugs in govt. sector. No adverse impact was observed on indigenous pharmaceutical trade as a result of this policy adopted by the Tamil Nadu govt. Worldwide, use of generic drugs has led to immense benefits in every respect. The use of generic prescription medicines has saved Canada’s health-care system nearly $26-billion since 2007, according to an analysis of Canadian retail prescription drug sales information released on January 9th, 2012 by the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA). The data released today reinforces that the savings provided by generic prescription medicines are essential to the sustainability of both public and private drug benefit plans. Therefore it is very important that several myths surrounding the promotion and use of generic drugs are allayed to pave way for their wider acceptance by doctors, traders as well as patients in the state.
Under new regime, things are supposed to change. An essential list of 348 drugs is prepared first that can tackle not only critical cases but almost all disease conditions. Then only these EDs shall be procured by the govt on their generic or INN names and always kept available within the hospitals. Every effort has to be made to prevent stock-outs. Subsequently all drugs shall have to be prescribed and dispensed only by their generic name or International Non-proprietary Name (INN) in the public sector. Regular Prescription audits shall be commissioned in public hospitals to measure the compliance in this regard. So depending upon how efficiently govt is able to implement these provisions, patients will hardly need to purchase drugs from the open market. And if the system works well, medicos outside the hospitals will start stocking generic drugs and in case of an eventuality (when some drug is not available inside the hospital) generic drugs only will be dispensed by the private chemists.However existing draft of the drug policy does not spell out modalities for those exceptional cases when some drug outside the ED list may have to be prescribed. Regulations might not be too stringent under such situations and doctor may be allowed to prescribe as desirable (including branded). Under standard conditions though rules apply as specified.
Don't you think it is a boost to people who supply hospitals and will add to corruption to a large extent. if you think it is proper to increase corruption and kill private sector completely. Government should think about people working with pharma sector right now and give them an alternate adjustment in their careers..it is not about 50000 people associated with the pharma industry.It is completely about 50000 families associated with them.if you think it will be something for the betterment of people,it is no where close to it except increasing corruption and more mess.
ReplyDeleteAs per the budget estimates presented by the finance ministry recently in the state assembly, total outlay on drugs and instruments for all govt. hospitals and departments of the valley does not exceed Rs 25 crores whereas officially it has been declared that we in Kashmir valley alone consume medicines worth Rs 400 crores annually. That means govt. sector comprises only 6-7% of our total drug market. So if generic drugs are procured for this miniscule 7% for the benefit of 22% of our population living below the poverty line (24 lakh souls), what is wrong in it. If you say 50,000 people or families depend on this Rs. 25 crore budget for drugs in govt sector, that means each person/family is living on a meager amount of Rs. 5000 per year, is that practically possible? And how is practically possible that 80% of the pharmaceutical trade in Kashmir will be dependent on a segment that comprises only 7% of the total market. Do you have any answers?
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