 Doctors should prescribe generic drugs for patients who cannot afford expensive medicines, Union Minister for Fertilizers and Chemicals D.V. Sadananda Gowda has said. The government has set up 7,000 Jan Aushadhi stores across the country to make health care affordable. The price difference between generic and branded medicines is 10-90 per cent, Gowda said in Bengaluru on Friday.
"There is a general perception that health care is unaffordable. People wrongly believe that expensive drugs are always of better quality than the cheaper generic ones. But I assure you the generic drugs are cheaper but also of high quality, safety and efficacy," said the minister after inaugurating the renal transplant centre, osteoporosis clinic and paediatric dermatology wing in Bangalore Baptist Hospital.
Recalling his interaction with senior citizens, Gowda said the monthly medical bills of many elderly patients suffering from diabetes and hypertension had been cut down from Rs 1,500-2,000 to Rs 350 after they started using generic drugs.
