Union Government of India unveiled New Free Drug Policy

In a policy aimed at benefitting country’s 120 crore population, the Union Government of India on 4 July 2012 unveiled the 5.4 billion dollar free drug policy. Under the new policy, every citizen of the country will be provided free medicines in all public health centres spreaded across the country. As the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare kept branded drugs out of this policy, the patients will be given only generic drugs. The policy which will remain effective over the next five years will provide a much needed support to nearly 40 percent people of the country, which spends 1.25 dollar or less a day on health.

The new free drug policy marks the first of its kind endeavour by the government of India to address the grim health services condition in the country. India spends about 1.2 percent of its annual GDP on health, making it a country with least spending on public health services. The country also has a high infant mortality rate as 66 of per 1000 children die before the age of 5, compared with 19 in China and 21 in Brazil. If the report of Organisation for Economic Co-operation to be believed, only seven countries in the world have got their public health expenditure less than India in terms of GDP percentage.