On the lines of the centrally implemented project, Jan Aushadhi, efforts of a district administration in Andhra Pradesh in launching Jeevanadhara Pharmacy to make available quality medicines at affordable rates have won remarkable acclaim in the state and got the state government’s nod to replicate it in all other districts as a government project.
Jeevanadhara Pharmacy, a model drug supply concept developed by J Syamala Rao IAS, the district collector of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, with the help of NGOs, IMA and Red Cross Society, will shortly become a government project for the whole state.
Other district administrations have already started replicating the model as a scheme in their own districts. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy while inaugurating one such store at Kurnool said his government is committed to establish more Jeevanadhara stores in Andhra Pradesh. Government has notified the APMSIDC as the Nodal agency for procurement and supply of generic medicines for these pharmacies.
The scheme was first implemented in certain government hospitals in Visakhapatnam and later one Jeevanadhara Sanjeevani Pharmacy was launched at the King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam. Finding success of the scheme, the district collectors of Krishna, Nellore, West Godavari, East Godavari, Ananthpur, Karimnagar, Guntur, Kurnool, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram have followed the concept and started generic stores in their district hospitals. Private hospitals like Dr Rama Chandra Reddy Hospital, Nellore has also started Jeevandhara pharmacy.
The ADC of Visakhapatnam, R Uday Bhaskar said nearly 300 varieties of drugs to treat most of the ailments and 50 varieties of surgicals/disposables manufactured by 20 companies of repute are made available at the stores on 40 per cent to 90 per cent discount on MRP. He said these pharmacies have started with a sale of Rs.2,000/- per day and grown up to a tune of Rs.25,000/- to 28,000/- per day. The authorities are planning to introduce oncology (anti cancer) medicines through these pharmacies within short time. Morphine tablets and fentenyl patches for the pain palliative care and pain treatment of cancer patients will also be supplied soon.
He said the officials of DRDA and Drugs Control Administration are extending large scale support to the programme and they lend logistics support to other districts. Doctors in the government hospitals prescribe drugs in generic name. KGH is also purchasing drugs from the Jeevanadhra Pharmacy.
The district authorities established depots at Pendurthy and retail pharmacies at Tagarapuvalasa, Chodavaram, Anakapalli, Addu Road and Narsipatnam. The total sale of medicines through Jeevanadhara pharmacies upto April 2011 is around Rs.1.30 crore. They claim that if the same medicines were supplied by other than Jeevanadhara Pharmacies, it would be more than Rs.3 crore. Navaratna Kesavarao Memorial Trust also started one Jeevanadhara Pharmacy in Visakhapatnam. Majority of the people got benefitted out of this concept.
According to sources, the scheme would redefine the principles of drug prescription by doctors, production by manufacturers and retail trade by chemists and druggists. Further, it would establish and emphasize the efficiency and potency of generic medicines so as to get the public quality medicines at affordable prices.
It is learnt that shortly Jeevanadhara pharmacy will be opened in rural areas at Pedawaltair, Gajuwaka, Gopalapatnam, Madhurawada and Gnanapuram in Visakhapatnam district. So far the Jeevanadhara depots has supplied nearly 10 lakhs worth of Generic medicines to Jeevandhara stores at Hyderabad, Kurnool and Guntur Districts, sources informed Pharmabiz.