JOIN USUnder the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana, MP Pratap Simha launched generic insulin and vials of injection to treat rabies in the city. Both the drugs would be available in Jan Aushadhi Kendras in the city from Monday.
On Saturday, Simha said that he was happy to launch the drugs in Mysuru as the city has been a pioneer in introducing generic drugs from 2010 when S A Ramdas was the Medical Education Minister.
He said that the pharmaceuticals lobby is very strong and the resistance to the Jan Aushadhi Kendras has been stiff. “People’s support is vital to expand the coverage of generic drugs. The kendras should reach rural areas to benefit more people,” he said.
Earlier, Ramdas recalled how he had been victimised by the pharmaceuticals lobby for introducing generic drugs for the benefit of people. By the time my term was over, we had managed to open eight kendras. But, the present state government did not take the project forward. Fortunately, the project was adopted by the Union government,” he said.
District (city) BJP president Dr B H Manjunath said that he was not able to find the right combinations among generic drugs and was facing problems while writing prescriptions. “However, recently, the combinations also have been released,” he said.
When he pointed out the need to educate doctors about the right codes of the drugs, senior marketing manager of Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India Parashuram Kenchareddy said that at present there are 2,500 kendras dispensing the generic drugs and by December, when the target of 3,000 kendras would be achieved, a drive would be launched to orient doctors across the nation.