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A pharmacist’s outlet in Imphal in Manipur has recorded the highest sales under the government’s affordable medicine scheme, Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Ushadi Paryugana (PMBJP), a senior government official told News18.com.
The store in East Imphal sold medicines worth Rs 4.87 crore last year, followed by an outlet in Jammu, recording sales of Rs 4.83 crore, and then Patna, which recorded sales of Rs 4.70 crore.
“Influenced by affordable generic medicines under the scheme, which are at least 5 to 6 times lower than the cost of branded versions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship scheme has hit among people in non-metros and small towns,” Ravi Dadic said, Chief Executive Officer, Medicines and Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) – the government arm implementing the scheme, told News18.com in an exclusive interview.
“While the scheme provides an opportunity to opt for affordable treatment, shopkeepers also earn a 20% commission on the revenue generated,” Dadic added.
Moreover, pharmacy stores located in South India take majority share in the list of best-selling outlets under the scheme. Data shows that six of the top 10 outlets are in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of outlets i.e. 1,410, followed by 1,076 in Karnataka, 979 in Kerala and 896 in Tamil Nadu. With more than 9,400 pharmacy stores across India, 2,931 (or 30% of the stores) are located in three southern states.
“The response from south India is overwhelming, especially Kerala when we compare the size of the state and its population to the number of shops. The coverage of the scheme is very high,” he added.
140 beneficiaries, 1,236 crore revenue
From Rs 12 crore to Rs 1,200 crore, the scheme has grown more than 120 times in the last eight years, and has “exceeded” its targets.
Dadhich, a DANICS officer, believes that “the beauty of the scheme lies in the fact that despite a minimal budget allocation and a small team of 140 people, we are able to serve those who cannot afford medicines and treatment.”
He said the scheme is built on an annual budget allocation of Rs. 100 crore in the last financial year, which managed to reach a turnover of Rs. 1,236 crore in the last financial year. “The next target is Rs 1,400 crore. We have already touched a monthly turnover of Rs 120 crore.”
The officer, who is in command of the scheme from December 2021, also shared an example.
“Imagine a motorist becomes ill and is prescribed amoxicillin for five days. Our strip of six tablets costs Rs 56 (Rs 9 per tablet), while his branded version costs Rs 227 for 10 tablets (Rs 22 per tablet) It will be treated for less than 100 rupees. This is how we touch life.”
Out of the 756 districts in India, the scheme outlets are open in 651 districts. At present, there are 10 districts where these stores do not exist mainly in Sikkim and Mizoram.
“We aim to open 10,000 outlets across India by December 31,” he said, while noting that there are 9,484 outlets in the country.
Drug testing
Cardiovascular medications remain the top selling category followed by diabetes and gastrointestinal medications. In September, the plan launched the popular anti-diabetes drug Sitagliptin, which came off patent in July.
Dadhich, who served as Special Secretary for Finance in the Delhi government on his last assignment before joining the scheme, said the priority is to release more of these drugs “as soon as you lose the patent, almost immediately”.
The drug variants are available at Rs 60-Rs 100 as opposed to the branded variants, which are available between Rs 162 and Rs 258.
Dadhich assured that “the quality of the medicines is at par with international standards” and that all companies supplying the scheme are WHO-GMP certified.
“We have 13 NABL-accredited laboratories where we send anonymous samples of medicines,” he said, adding that the scheme no longer relies on test reports provided by manufacturers and continues to send random samples to their own laboratories for verification.
“It takes 4 to 6 months to select a manufacturer from tender to price to testing… I have 30 companies battling each other for just one product category we want to include,” he said.
Of the total 1,800 products, 400 are fast acting drugs and make up 70% of total sales. The remaining sales are derived from surgical devices and other medicines.
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