Special Secretary in the ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers V. Rajagopalan today said that government has proposed to open 3 thousand Jan Aushadhi Generic Drug outlets in coming years across the country in the 12th five year plan. Addressing the India Pharma Summit-2012 in New Delhi, he said there is a need to provide affordable and quality generic medicines to the people of the country especially to the weaker section of the society. Mr Rajgopalan said, access of affordable medicines is on high priority of the Centre as it is critical to the provision of equitable, affordable and quality healthcare .Underlining the importance of more innovations and research in the field of pharma, he urged all concerned stakeholders to come up with innovative methods for increasing access of medicines in far-flung areas.
Speaking on the occasion, WHO representative to India, Nata Menabde urged India to develop more generic medicines. Ms Menabde said WHO is a strong supporter of generic medicines as these medicines are easily affordable and accessible for all. Talking about the factors affecting access of medicine in India, she stressed the need for strengthening regulation of the medicine and vaccines. She also said that irrational use of medicines and insufficient research and development also affects the access of medicine in the country.