Public sector has a decisive role to play in developing economies especially in critical areas like healthcare and medicine. These are not the sectors which should be left entirely to the private sector as its unmonitored growth can have grave implications on public health of the country. In India, these concerns were well addressed by the government in the initial years after independence. But, somewhere later the government lost this perception and allowed private enterprises to assume an uncontrolled role in these sectors. In pharmaceutical industry, this neglect is clearly visible now. The public sector companies like IDPL and HAL which played the role of a catalyst in the growth of pharmaceutical industry in India are sick and unattended by the government for several years. The latest victims of this neglect are century old three vaccine producing units of the Central government. The government had ordered their closure some months ago allowing private vaccine manufacturers a free run. The pharmaceutical products of PSU companies are, thus, virtually invisible in the market. Government's objective of achieving some kind of control on prices of essential and life saving drugs has also been successfully defeated by the private sector over the last three decades. The price control orders issued by the government have been largely ignored or violated by pharmaceutical companies taking advantage of poor enforcement practices and extremely slow judicial process.
Now, with the threat of MNCs taking over the Indian pharmaceutical sector gradually becoming a reality, the government has to wake up and decide about a new role to the public sector in drug manufacturing and distribution to protect millions of poor patients from overcharging. Most of the widely required medicines are beyond the reach of common man because of high prices. A large number of medicines available in several semi urban and rural areas of the country are also of doubtful quality. In a situation like this, the recent move by the Department of Pharmaceuticals to set up a string generic stores throughout the country is one positive measure. As per this plan, quality generic drugs should be made available to the common man at reasonable prices in all districts of the country. To make this project a success, it should be supported by large scale manufacture of quality generic drugs. Revival of all public sector drug units to manufacture essential and widely used drugs at controlled costs can be a good option. There are five central drug PSUs and six joint sector undertakings in the country. Except Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Rajasthan Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd, all others have been in the red for several years. The government has been talking about a financial page of Rs 441-crore for the revival of IDPL for some time but nothing much has happened so far. What the government should do is to create an apex body for all public sector drug units and redefine their roles in the changed environment. These companies can take up manufacture and distribution of essential and life saving drugs on a regular basis. These PSUs can also be an arm of the government in manufacturing life saving patented drugs required to meet emergencies.