The government of Haryana has come out with an Essential Medicine Policy for improving the access to high quality essential medicines in the state. The EMP is intended at enabling optimal use of limited resources, having an effective check on common diseases and making available quality medicines at low cost.

The distinctive feature of the policy is its thrust on the promotion of generic medicines. The government has already prepared a list of essential medicines in the context of prevailing disease profile and health scenario of the state, it is learnt.

According to Raj Kumar, commissioner, Health, government of Haryana, the implementation of the policy objectives has already started and the agreement with the state drug trade sector to announce a uniform price rate for 254 commonly used generic drugs was one of the major steps in the forward direction.

The government is committed to encourage and enable medical professionals to prescribe essential drugs under their generic names and use of blood from government approved blood banks. Rational treatment guidelines will also be introduced besides the introduction of a formulary of essential medicines to promote use of appropriate medicines and correct course of treatment in terms of dosage and length of time, he said.

A shift in source of medical information from medical representatives to qualified medical professionals is another major objective. The government plans to strengthen its health training system.

Intensive training sessions on rational use of medicines are being planned for government doctors. Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Information Education and Communication (IEC) programmes will be developed and launched to update the knowledge of doctors on developments in the medical field. The government may seek the help of professional bodies like the Indian Medical Association and the Medical Council of India, faculties from medical colleges, NGOs and private consultants to update and enhance knowledge level of doctors.

Decentralisation of health sector and introduction of transparent drug procurement system have also been suggested.

Strengthening of patient records management system in the government health facilities is another important measure suggested in the policy. This is meant to capture key data regarding disease patterns and systematically analyse it to provide empirical information on prevailing diseases, health conditions, prescription trends etc. for need based procurement of essential medicines responsive to various levels of government health facilities and various regions and districts. The policy also calls for the use of latest techniques in forecasting to assess demand for each of the essential medicines.

The government proposes to establish an efficient logistics management system. Good inventory management systems will reduce wastage due to expiry and good transportation systems and standard operating procedures will reduce the incidence of stock out of essential medicines in government run health facilities, it is expected.

The EMP also envisages the introduction of packaging inserts for all the essential drugs. These inserts would be in simple language, easily comprehensible to any literate patient and will have to be developed, printed in vernacular, Hindi and English languages and provided by the manufacturer/supplier along with the product. This product insert would contain the following key information for each medicine like uses/indications, contraindications, side effects, precautions, adverse effects, drug interactions, dosage, etc.

Phase wise development of Adverse Drug Reaction monitoring cells in all government hospitals of the state is another specialty of the policy document. The ADR guidelines are to be developed in accordance with the WHO guidelines and in consultation with the Government of India, it is learnt.