BERHAMPUR: The ambitious Jan Aushadhi programme to ensure availability of generic medicines at low cost to the common man has not been successful in Berhampur. The Jan Aushadhi outlet here was inaugurated on the premises of City Hospital earlier this year by Berhampur MLA RCC Patnaik, who also happens to be a physician by profession.The counter is being managed by Red Cross Society. The then Ganjam Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Ratnakar Behera had said during the inauguration that the counter would sell several types of generic medicines with which all common ailments can be cured. Accordingly, versions of generic medicines, not branded, are being sold at the store for the benefit of patients who have been paying high price for branded products of the same chemical composition. To popularise the outlet, even government doctors were asked by the administration to prescribe generic drugs which would be supplied through the new Jan Aushadhi centre. However, at present, doubts are being raised on the utility of the outlet as it has just 90 varieties of generic medicines instead of the 269 varieties that were promised during the inauguration. This apart, a lone pharmacist handles the affairs at the outlet which opens from 9 am to 2 pm on weekdays. Sources said although doctors are prescribing generic medicines, patients are unable to get them at the outlet. CDMO SK Patnaik said steps were being taken to sort out the problems of the Jan Ausadhi outlet at the earliest.
Comments
0 comment