Lok Sabha Question No. 1883 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-14
Subject: Supply of Generic Drugs
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: KOTHA PRABHAKAR REDDY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICALS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1883 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14 th  MARCH, 2017

## Supply of Generic Drugs

## 1883. SHRI PRABHAKAR REDDY KOTHA:

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is supplying generic drugs free of cost in the hospitals and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  hospital  authorities  are  not  following  the  laid  down  norms  in supplying the generic drugs freely and patents are not getting the drugs and if so, the reaction of the Government thereto; and
- (c) whether the Government has taken any steps to keep check on over prescription and waste of drugs by the hospitals and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS; MINISTRY OF SHIPPING AND MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS (SHRI MANSUKH L. MANDAVIYA)

- (a):  Public  Health  being  a  State  subject,  the  primary  responsibility  of  supply  of medicines including lifesaving medicines free of cost to the patients in public/Government Healthcare Centres primarily lies  with  the  State/UT  Governments. Under the  National  Health  Mission  (NHM),  support  is  provided  to  the  States/UTs  for strengthening their healthcare delivery system including for provision of free essential drugs to those who access public health facilities, based on the requirement posed by the States/UTs in their Programme Implementation Plans.
- (b)  &  (c):  Public  Health  being  a  State  subject,  the  primary  responsibility  of  putting  in place a monitoring mechanism for proper utilization of funds and ensure free availability of  quality  drugs  in  public  health  centres/hospitals  primarily  lies  with  the  State/UT Governments. Under NHM, support is also provided to States/UTs for putting in place IT enabled inventory management systems to track drug availability. The implementation  and  progress  of  the  National  Health  Mission  (NHM)  including  proper utilization  of  funds  and  ensuring  free  availability  of  quality  drugs  in  public  health

centres/hospitals is monitored/ reviewed at the national level through Annual Common Review  Missions.  At  the  District  Level,  the  'District  Level  Vigilance  &  Monitoring Committees' are constituted to monitor the progress of implementation of NHM. Other mechanisms include external surveys such as Sample Registration Survey (SRS), the District  Level  Household  Survey  (DLHS)  and  National  Family  Health  Survey  (NFHS) besides regular monitoring visits from National Program Management Units to States & Districts  and  from  States  to  Districts  &  Blocks.  The  Health  Management  Information Systems  (HMIS)  helps  to  monitor  the  performance  of  public  health  facilities.  Under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), financial and technical support is provided to strengthen healthcare delivery system, particularly in rural areas.

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