Jan Aushadhi: in need of a right prescription

An earnest-sounding voice answers the Jan Aushadhi hotline number and assures the person calling that more stores are being planned by the Government in districts across the country. That response was to the caller’s query if there was a Jan Aushadhi (JA) store in Mumbai. As it happens, there is one in Maharashtra, but in Pune!

It’s been over six years since the Government set up its first JA store in Amritsar with the aim of supplying less expensive generic drugs to consumers. But, the project has been struggling, despite several revival plans announced by the top brass at the Department of Pharmaceuticals.

About 100-odd JA stores presently operate largely in North India. Another 50 have been closed and the. And latest reports speak of 1,000 more stores by mid-June.

So will the plan take wing this time? Experts who have dissected the struggling JA project, identify key problem areas — prescription patterns (whether the medicine is suggested by brand name or the generic-chemical name) and supply-chain management (involving sourcing, warehousing, etc). This impacts the availability and quality of medicine reaching the consumer, they point out.

The JA idea was to supply quality generic drugs at rock bottom prices by removing the several intermediaries between the drugmaker and consumer. But there was an over-dependence on pharmaceutical Public Sector Units (PSU), observes a senior health economist with the Public Health Foundation of India.

Though relying on Government-owned drugmakers is desirable, problems arose because they did not supply the entire basket of essential medicines. And this resulted in shortages and stockouts at the JA stores.

In damage control mode, the Government roped in non-government organisations, tinkered with the revenue model, etc, but prescription patterns continued to trip-up the plan.

Unless medicines are prescribed by generic names, it will not drive patients to buy these chemically similar versions of branded products. In fact, the revenues these shops make in a month are comparable to what a regular chemist makes in a day, the economist observes.

Amit Mookim, Country Principal (South Asia) at IMS Consulting Group, echoes similar thoughts. Supply-chain management and prescription patterns are essential for the plan to supply generic drugs at a fraction of the market price to succeed.

The over-dependence on Central PSUs led to reduced selection of drugs at the JA store. So consumers moved to a better stocked chemist if their medicine was not available at JA. The Government needs to assess the commercial viability of these stores, the real-estate cost, operational costs in storing and selling such medicines, etc, he points out. Consumer awareness on generics, its benefits and the existence of JA stores is also low, observes Mookim. There is some headway here, with a mobile application now helping consumers get the generic name of a particular drug, he adds.

Other issues, such as competition from organised chemists, etc, are secondary. The primary need of JA stores is to be well-equipped with quality and cost-effective drugs, he says. Medicines need to be sourced from multiple vendors and this robust supply chain needs to be supported with a change in prescription patterns, he suggests.

Meanwhile, JA is scouting for a Chief Executive. And though healthworkers are not optimistic that it will help revive JA, pharma industry representatives point out that it might, if Government pays good money to attract resourceful people for the top job.

JA needs to be run like a business, possibly by someone who understands the consumer goods sector and intricacies of supply chain management, observes Mookim.

Taking it a step further, he suggests, that the Government should look at innovative partnerships like the Passport office–TCS alliance. In JA’s case, he says, it could include private medical practitioners into the net to prescribe generics, since they are the first port of call when someone is unwell.

Conceptually, the JA idea is appealing, says the PHFI economist. But, if the Government cannot do it in India — lauded as pharmacy to the world — then no one else can, he points out.

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