The Hindu Business Line : Fighting dengue: `Involve pharma cos'

Need for co-ordination
Companies say that premier hospitals in the Capital are not open to services from the private sector
They argue for a Centre-coordinated effort to procure medicines and kits, rather than have them work in isolation

Mumbai/New Delhi , Oct. 16

As more patients flock to hospitals to get tested and treated for dengue or chikungunya, pharmaceutical and hygiene company representatives are puzzled at the Centre's lack of interest in taking them on-board efforts to manage the mosquito-borne illness.

Despite hospital facilities being over-burdened with patients, premier hospitals in the Capital are not open to services from the private sector, an executive with a pharmaceutical company told Business Line.

Lack of coordination

Companies are reducing the price of dengue kits or offering mosquito coils and repellent lotions on their own. There is no coordinated effort to source these products at a subsidised cost and make it easily available to more people, he points out.

For instance, drug-maker Nicholas Piramal India Ltd (NPIL) is offering tests to get the complete blood and platelet counts for 15 different indications. It will be priced at a subsidised Rs 60 for a test, compared to a market cost of about Rs 200, said NPIL's Mr Harinder Sikka. The lab will be open round the clock and the test would be free for below poverty line card-holders, he said.

An official with Godrej Sara Lee echoes similar thoughts. The company has halved the price on its mosquito-repellent products in affected areas. But private-public partnerships to tackle the spread of infection are not happening, he said.

Countering the private sector's observations of being cold-shouldered by the Government, the Union Health Minister, Dr Anbumani Ramdoss, said companies were welcome to go to the hospitals and offer their services. Further, hospitals are not over-burdened and more hospitals have been listed to provide tests and treatment for free, he said.

But a private healthcare representative points out that it would be easier if the Centre coordinated an integrated effort to procure medicines and kits, rather than have companies work in isolation.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Southwesterlies continue to drive rain

Orascom keen to hike holding in Hutchison

Fighting dengue: `Involve pharma cos'

Cabinet okays IT Act amendment

ONGC extends comfort letter to Mittal venture

Wanbury buys Spanish co Cantabria for Rs 250 cr

TCS net rises 43.5 pc

HCL Tech net income rises 49 pc in July-Sept

Sensex gains 192, tops 12,900

UTI Bank up on growth hopes

SE Asia Marine: Bets on offshore services

GE offers to set up loco unit with Railways