Big pharma is cut out by India's plan to bring medicine to masses

India is planning a multibillion-dollar push to bring free medicines to the hundreds of millions of its citizens who, despite the country's economic revival, still languish without access to the very basics of health care.

The $5bn initiative, which is slated to be rolled out by the end of this year, will offer 348 essential drugs to patients across the country. In a blow to the West's big pharmaceutical firms, the planned scheme will largely cut out branded drugs, opting instead for cheaper generic alternatives....


Now, Delhi is plotting a multi-billion dollar health-care drive, using its network of government-funded hospitals and clinics to deliver free drugs across a country where, despite the much-vaunted boom of recent years, more than two million young children die every year from preventable infections, according to Unicef.

The bulk of the cash for the free medicine plan will come from central coffers, while state governments will be asked to shell out an additional third of the required funds. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said it had put forward proposals worth around $3.64bn. The additional funding – from the states – will boost the investment to around $4.9bn, signalling, if approved, "a giant step in vastly expanding the access to medicines", the Ministry said. A template already exists in the western state of Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu in the south, where health schemes are reported to have been successful.

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/big-pharma-is-cut-out-by-indias-plan-to-bring-medicine-to-masses-7917944.html