Few Words About PMBJAK Project

Irony, even after 70 years of Independence, around 40% of population are able to afford branded medicines. The branded medicine’s market in India is of 1 lakh 20 thousand crores. It is irony that 6 out of 10 people of the population do not have access to the branded medicines. However, the bright side of the picture is, India is one of the leading countries to export world class generic medicines to around 200 countries. Out of every 6 medicines consumed in the world is from India. Look at the dichotomy, on one hand 6 out of 10 persons do not have access to medicines, whereas India is within the first four countries of the World, producing quality generic medicines and exporting to other countries. Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) is a scheme designed to bridge the above dichotomy. It is dedicated to, provide quality medicines at an affordable price to every citizen of the country, irrespective of all cast, creed and economy. The intention is to provide health security to our countrymen, at the earliest, as soon as possible.

Making quality medicines available at affordable prices for all, particularly the poor and disadvantaged, through exclusive outlets “Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras”, so as to reduce out of pocket expenses in healthcare.

Vision And Mission

To bring down the healthcare budget of every citizen of India through providing Quality generic Medicines at Affordable Prices.

Create awareness among public regarding generic medicines.
Create demand for generic medicines through medical practioners.
Create awareness through education and awareness program that high price need not be synonymous with high quality.
Provide all the commonly used generic medicines covering all the therapeutic groups.
Provide all the related health care products too under the scheme.

“Jan Aushadhi” is the novel project launched by Government of India in the year 2008 for the noble cause – Quality Medicinesat Affordable Prices for All. The campaign was undertaken through sale of generic medicines through exclusive outlets namely “Pradhan Mantri Janaushadhi Kendra” in various districts of the country. The first “Pradhan Mantri Janaushadhi Kendra” was opened on 25thNov 2008 at Amritsar in Punjab.

Initially, it was proposed that the PMBJP campaign be implemented during 11th Five Year Plan period starting from 2008-09, with the target, at least one Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras in each of the 630 districts of the country, to be extended to sub-divisional levels as well as major towns and village centers by 2012. It was envisaged that the scheme would run on a self-sustaining business model, and not be dependent on government subsidies or assistance beyond the initial support. It was to be run on the principle of “No Profit, No loss”.

The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) was entrusted with a third party evaluation and they submitted its report on 18th Dec, 2012 under the title “Rapid Assessment and Potential Scale up of PMBJP Scheme”.

The main observations of the report were:

Over dependence on support from State Government.
Poor Supply Chain management with frequent stock out situation.
Basket of drugs is not fully representative and comprehensive resulting in poor public response and disproportionate expiries. Only 85 medicines spread across 11 therapeutic categories were supplied to stores and the mean availability of these drugs was found to be 33%, with wide variations across therapeutic categories.
Non-prescription of generic medicines.
Free medicines distribution schemes by Central/State Governments viz., Haryana, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu-Free Supply of Drugs affected viability of JAS of Government Hospitals.

Thus, a limited portfolio of medicines coupled with chronic stock-outs seriously eroded the credibility of these stores as customers desire a one-stop shop for all prescribed drugs. Extremely low sales volume of drugs due to stock-outs and poor awareness at the level of patients also adversely impacted operational costs. Even those stores with high sales volume had found it difficult to recoup operational expenses. PMBJP campaign 2013-15:

As on 31st March 2012, only 149 stores were functional, and half of them got closed during 2012-13. To have an accelerated growth of the campaign, a New Business Plan was released during Aug 2013 with an ambitious target of opening 3000 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras by the end of 2016-17 with a planned budget of Rs.148.82 Cr. The plan also contained few changes in the scheme. Still by the end of the financial year, 2014-15, the number of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras could reach a level of 99 only.The number of medicines included in the product basket were only around 200 and physical availability was only 50% of the basket.

Generic medicines (or: generics) are fully equivalent to the originator product in strength, route of administration, quality and performance characteristics, and intended use.

A generic drug must contain the same active ingredients as the original drug to be therapeutically equivalent and thus substitutable for the reference product. Generic medicines present the same quality and safety as the originator product. They are submitted to the same standards, which are enforced by the relevant regulatory authorities.

Generic drugs are less expensive because generic manufacturers don't have the investment costs of the developer of a new drug. New drugs are developed under patent protection. The patent protects the investment--including research, development, marketing, and promotion--by giving the company the sole right to sell the drug while it is in effect. As patents near expiration, other manufacturers can apply to the FDA to sell generic versions. Because those manufacturers don't have the same development costs, they can sell their product at substantial discounts. Also, once generic drugs are approved, there is greater competition, which keeps the price down. Today, almost half of all prescriptions are filled with generic drugs.