March 7, 2019 to be celebrated as ‘Janaushadhi Diwas’ across India

Over 5,050 Janaushadhi stores functional across 652 districts in the country. Each block in the country to have a PMBJP Kendra by 2020, informs Mansukh Mandaviya

With the initiative of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in the direction of making quality healthcare affordable for all, the Government has taken important steps to make affordable and quality generic medicines popular among the people through Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP)”, said Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, while addressing the media recently.

The minister informed that for providing further impetus and creating awareness about use of generic medicines, it has been decided to celebrate 7th March, 2019 as ‘JanaushadhiDiwas’ across India. Prime Minister will interact with owners of Janaushadhi Kendras and beneficiaries of the scheme across the country through video conference at 1:00 pm on 7th March, 2019. Talking about the future course of development, Mandaviya added that with this pace of progress, all blocks in the country would have atleast one PMBJP Kendra by 2020.

Citing Prime Minister’s vision that no poor person should die due to non-availability of good quality affordable medicines in the country, Mandaviya said that with developments like more and more doctors prescribing generic medicines and opening of over 5050 Janaushadhi stores across 652 districts, awareness and availability of high quality affordable generic medicines has increased in the country. About 10-15 lakh people benefit from Janaushadhi medicines per day and the market share of generic medicines has grown over three fold from two per cent to seven per cent in last three years, the minister added.

Mandaviya also said that health is one of the most important part of development and this Government has been incessantly working to ensure quality healthcare affordable for all, through schemes like Ayushman Bharat and PMBJP, among others. The Janaushadhi medicines have played a big role in bringing down the out-of-pocket expenditure of patients suffering from life-threatening diseases in India. The PMBJP scheme has led to total savings of approximately Rs 1,000 crores for common citizens, as these medicines are cheaper by 50 per cent to 90 per cent of average market price.

In his opening remarks, JP Prakash, Secretary, Pharmaceuticals informed that as part of the celebrations of Janaushadhi Diwas tomorrow, programmes would be organised at all PMBJP Kendras to increase the awareness about the scheme. These programmes would witness participation of doctors, health experts, NGOs and beneficiaries, which would help in spreading awareness about the scheme to common masses.

Sachin Kumar Singh, CEO, Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI), said that the PMBJP is also providing a good source of self-employment with self-sustainable and regular earnings. Average sales per store per month has grown to Rs 1.50 lakhs (including OTC and other products) as per a survey conducted by the BPPI, which implements the scheme. Four big warehouses — Delhi, Guwahati, Bengaluru and Chennai have been opened so as to ensure adequate availability of Janaushadhi medicines at all PMBJP kendras.

Singh also displayed a wide range of affordable quality health products already launched under the PMBJP scheme and available at PMBJP Kendras. This included Jan Aushadhi Suvidha Oxo-Biodegradable sanitary napkins at Rs 2.50 per piece; JanAushadhi Swabhiman at Rs140 for a pack of five adult diapers; Jan Aushahdi Bachpan at Rs 20 only for a pack of five baby diapers; Jan Aushadhi Ankur pregnancy test kits at Rs 20; Jan Aushadhi Urja energy drink at Rs 35 for a 300 ml pack, among others.