Five state governments have agreed to form an alliance to formulate common policies for drug procurement as also to share data and best practices.
This came about at a meeting of heads of the central drug procurement agencies of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala held here.
The alliance is expected to bring down the across-the-counter costs of drugs and make them more accessible to the common man.
The five states also signed a ‘Thiruvananthapuram declaration,’ affirming their commitment to these objectives and sharing their resources and capacities.
This is the first attempt by states to put up a united front at tackling the issue of rising drug prices and shortage, said Mr Biju Prabhakar, Managing Director, Kerala Medical Services Corporation.
He told newspersons here that the states would sign MoUs among each other to share knowledge and skills, exchange drugs during exigencies, and capacity-building.
The aim is to curb the unethical practices of non-state players who form cartels to thwart government’s attempts to provide drugs at cheaper rates to the common man.
Best practices
Uniform policies for drug procurement and sharing of best practices are the need of the hour so that states can help out each other during emergencies.
Best practices in quality control, factory inspections of manufacturers, logistics, inventory management, database and IT solutions would be leveraged.
“We are trying to set up redundancy mechanism that can help maintain a supply pipeline in the event of a sudden shortage,” Mr Prabhakar said.
His counterpart from Rajasthan Mr Samit Sharma said the states had to unite to beat unethical and corrupt practices which have made life-saving drugs unaffordable.
Actual costs
Drugs are being sold in the open market at prices which are sometimes 10 or 50 times higher than the actual cost of manufacture.
He said that a massive exercise had to be launched in generating awareness and trust among doctors about generic drugs.
“The generics are in no way inferior to branded drugs,” he added.
The next conclave of chief executive officers of state medical services corporation will be held in Rajasthan in October, when more states were expected to join the alliance.