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The article “What’s ailing health care in India?” (Business Line, August 22) made very useful reading. The author has not minced words in explaining the plight of the Indian poor, who still have only limited access to modern medicine, despite the country’s pharmaceutical policy aimed at providing quality medicines at affordable prices.

Also, one cannot be oblivious of the fact that modern drugs (for serious ailments, in particular) are available only in big medical shops normally confined to major cities and important towns. And even the rich who live in villages have to travel miles to get the medicines they need.

Don’t we see the revolution of market mechanism in the telecom industry?

Today, even the poorest farmer in a remote village is in possession of a cell phone.

Similarly, allowing the free play of market forces in the pharma sector (restricting the government’s role to strict supervision, to ensure spurious drugs do not enter the market) would not only enable the companies to produce enough medicines at reasonable prices but also help set up many medical shops in towns and villages across the country.

S. Ramakrishnasayee Ranipet

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