Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today said, he has asked state governments to promote generic drugs to help the poverty-stricken get access to medical care.<br/><br/>Ruing the lack of adequate health care for the economically weaker sections, he said in a seminar in New Delhi that even the low cost drugs are not available to the poor, though India takes pride in producing such drugs in bulk.<br/><br/>The minister said he believed that the problem can be addressed by providing generic drugs as compared to branded drugs that are usually prescribed.<br/><br/>Mr. Azad said there was an urgent need for quality assurance in pharmacy education and this can be done through introduction of new courses, drafting of new regulations for undergraduate and post graduate courses, revising the course curriculum and conducting continuing education programmes for registered pharmacists.<br/><br/>President Mrs. Pratibha Patil, who inaugurated the seminar, said the Indian pharmaceuticals industry should draw on the resources of indigenous systems of medicine. She added that Pharmacy education should be constantly revived and upgraded as it will give students the required exposure.<br/><br/>The Indian pharmaceuticals industry is ranked third in terms of volume and 14th in terms of value.<br/><br/>The total turnover of this sector is over one lakh crore rupees of which 40 per cent is exported. <br/><br/>India will soon launch a second vaccine to battle swine. The Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said in New Delhi that the disease has affected more than 15,000 people in the past one year and claimed 16 lives last week in the country. <br/><br/>The first indigenous swine flu vaccine was launched last month. The announcement comes amidst reports of growing cases of Swine flu Most swine flu cases have come from Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.