Drug manufacturers should think of using the logistics support of the Department of Posts to reach out to the masses. There are 155,000 post offices in the country and these can be used effectively to deliver over-the-counter drugs, according to Ranjit Sahani, country president of Novartis India.
Speaking at the healthcare and pharma conclave, a student-led industry summit at the Indian School of Business recently, he said pharma makers in the country had already made a representation to the Centre and a pilot on these would be held shortly.
“We should also look at using the network of other companies, for example colas and commodity suppliers, to reach out the rural areas,” he said.
Malathi Lakshmikumar, a patent expert from Lakshmi Kumaran and Sridharan, said there would be a lot of patent clefts in two years after many drugs go off patent. However, the impact would be minimum on India as there are no innovator drugs.
Perumal Namperumalsamy, chairman of Aravind Eye Hospitals, stressed the importance of bringing efficiency to eye surgeries for eradicating a major burden of blindness in the country. He said a factory model could be used to make hospitals more effective.
