No shortage of medicines in country to deal with outbreak of Corona virus : Gowda

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers V Sadananda Gowda on March 5, 2020, said that there is no shortage of medicine in the country to deal with the outbreak of Corona virus.

Inaugurating India Pharma & Medical Device 2020 conference at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat, Gowda assured that so far the Government has been able to successfully restrict its spread in India due to strong surveillance and monitoring system. The global outbreak has not only posed immense challenge to pharma sector but also opened up a window of opportunity for the sector. He said the preparedness of the Government, hospitals, medical institutions, and pharma sector to deal with Corona virus in any eventuality have been strong and firmed up.

Gowda said that there is a need to reduce our dependency on Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) imports by making India self-sufficient in API manufacturing. He said that pharma companies should take a cue from this emerging situation and take steps to increase their capacity in API manufacturing, according to a PIB release.

The Union Minister said that the potential of pharma sector is very high. The growing population, increasing prosperity, and rising awareness towards health, provide a very good incentive to make further investment in this sector. If these opportunities are seized properly, the market size of the Indian Pharma Industry can reach to more than 100 Billion USD by 2025 while Medical Devices industry can reach to 50 Billion USD by 2025.

The Government has formulated schemes for development of bulk drug park and medical device park under which Union Government provides a lumpsum amount as grant in aid to the State Governments for building common facility centers in the park, said Gowda. We have received several proposals from States like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Himachal Pradesh, which are under active consideration of the Department, he added. 

Gowda said that to improve affordability of quality generic medicine, Government of India is implementing Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) with the objective to realise the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make affordable medicine available to common people, especially to poor and disadvantaged. Generic medicines sold at dedicated Jan Aushadhi stores are cheaper by at least 50% and for some even by 90%. The response of people has been tremendous. He urged pharmaceutical companies to focus on R & D and launch newer drugs in the market keeping in mind affordability considerations in developing countries.