Supply of free medicines: Will Budget have an answer?

Mumbai, Feb. 27:  

With the much-publicised programme to supply free medicines across the country losing its initial momentum, February 28 will be crucial, as it could reveal the fate of this initiative.

The Budget statement will make public whether the Union Government has kept its promise of financially supporting the roll-out of free medicines. Or worse, it could end up confirming the worst fears of public-health workers: that the initiative has indeed been stonewalled by fiscal hawks keen on controlling Government spending.

In secrecy

The free-medicines programme, though, has the potential to become a shining star in the armoury of the Government in a pre-election year. And therein lies the key, says an optimistic health worker, hoping that Budget 2013 gives the free-medicines initiative the much-required financial tonic.

In what could have been a path-breaking initiative, the Government-supported programme to supply free medicines through its public health institutions was supposed to roll out last October.

The rub, though, was that the Government was to fork out about Rs 5,000 crore annually. The programme hinges on the Government increasing its health spending from about 1 per cent of the GDP to about 3 per cent.

Boost for dRug-makers

There have been pilot initiatives in Rajasthan, but the progress in other States is unclear, says a health worker. After the initial fanfare, the programme has been cloaked in secrecy, with little being said on whether indeed the programme has got under way in the country, he adds.

The programme could also hold out an opportunity for domestic drug-makers — if the Government decides to source medicines from the over Rs 1.2-lakh-crore pharmaceutical industry.

Indian generic drug makers have been called ‘pharmacy to the world,’ because they supply cheap quality medicines to global markets. It would be a natural fit for the Government to use this manufacturing advantage to make medicines available to its own people, observed an industry representative. 

SHANE HAIDER

PGDM 2ND SEM.