Generic-generic Medicines Critical To Achieve The Vision Of Affordable Healthcare For All

- 

62-YEAR-OLD BHAGAT (name changed upon patient’s request) from Mumbai, suffers from a cardiovascular condition. He underwent his first angioplasty in 2016 after which surgeries followed in 2017 and 2018. Along with the surgical procedures, Bhagat was advised regular medication which added to his already surmounting healthcare-related expenditure.

During one of his regular visits to the doctor, Bhagat encountered a fellow patient who informed him about generic medicines, which were a far more affordable option for a chronic disease patient like him. He consulted his doctor and soon afterwards switched to generic medications. His monthly expenses towards medicines reduced dramatically, from 2,000 a month to 700 a month.

Several months have passed since Bhagat has been on generic medicines and emphasises that his health parameters continue to be the same as when he was taking branded medicines. He insists that he took this decision of switching to generic medicines with complete trust on his doctor’s advice. After changing to generic generics, he has experienced 65 per cent increase in his monthly savings.

Millions of patients like Bhagat, living with chronic and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have to bear medical expenses throughout their life, post diagnosis. India’s burden of NCDs is only growing manifold, year-on-year. The onset of NCDs in India occurs typically a decade earlier than many developed countries, with the average age threshold being 45 years, thereby impacting a majority of the country’s productive workforce. Of all the NCDs, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, respiratory diseases, cancer and hypertension, account for 60 per cent of all mortality in the country.