The Madhya Pradesh Cabinet has approved a new State Drug Policy applicable to the purchase of medicines and hospital material by all government departments. Instead of the Laghu Udyog Nigam, these purchases would be now made through a separate 'Madhya Pradesh State Drug Corporation'.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Digvijay Singh on Tuesday evening at Bhopal.

Official sources said the Policy provides for stringent quality tests from recognised drug laboratories before and after purchases. It ensures that maximum amount of the drugs are prescribed and purchased on basis of the generic names. Only the drug manufacturers and importers would be allowed to offer bids in the open tender process invited by the Corporation.

Under the new policy, for smooth operations, information about the procedure of purchase and distribution of drugs would be made available online.

The Cabinet decided that the medicines would be made available to health institutions as per the standard list and treatment guidelines. Drugs would be purchased through open tenders in which only manufacturers and importers would be able to participate.

The government health institutions, at every level, would be required to prepare separate list of medicines and submit the same to the State Drug Corporation.

The policy provides for stringent quality test of purchased drugs by an independent quality test system for which separate open tenders would be invited from reputed laboratories.

As per an estimate, on an average, the different departments of the government purchase drugs worth Rs 65 to Rs 70 crore every year. The Laghu Udyog Nigam would have no say in these purchases, under the new policy.

The new policy seeks to strengthen health education programmes pertaining to drugs and to encourage rational use of drugs, said sources adding, training programmes would be organised to train the doctors and concerning staff for such rational use.

Standard treatment guidelines would be laid down for treatment of diseases with higher incidence.

An objective of the policy is to ensure ever availability of medicines to patients in hospitals as per a right-based guarantee system. The policy also provides that drugs should be prescribed and purchased, as far as possible, on the basis of generic name. Suitable provisions for improving the system for procurement, storage and distribution of medicines are also laid down in the policy.