Ranchi: The Jharkhand Pharmaceutical Price Monitoring and Resource Unit (PMRU) has achieved 97% of the targets set by the Union govt for monitoring drug prices and ensuring access to affordable medicines, prompting state health department’s additional chief secretary (ACS) Ajoy Kumar Singh to direct officials to attain 100% achievement and further strengthen enforcement.Singh said the PMRU’s key mandate is to monitor medicine prices, ensure the availability of essential drugs, and generate awareness among consumers about govt-notified prices.“The unit regularly inspects medical stores, hospitals, and other drug outlets to check compliance with price regulations. Samples of medicines covered under govt-fixed ceiling prices are collected to verify if they are being sold above the prescribed rates. For non-scheduled medicines, PMRU monitors price increases and initiates inquiry and regulatory action if prices rise by more than 10%,” he added.Singh appealed to consumers to verify the prices of medicine before buying through the Centre’s Integrated Pharmaceutical Database Management (IPDMS) 2.0 portal, which provides information on the maximum retail prices (MRPs) of medicines.Department officials were also directed to strengthen consumer awareness, promote the ‘Pharma Sahi Daam’ mobile application, enabling users to check medicine prices, view drug composition details, lodge complaints against overpricing and report medicine shortages.However, activists claimed that many patients still struggle to access affordable medicines. “While the govt has ensured selling medicines at MRP rates, there is no mechanism to control the huge gap in retail and wholesale prices of medicines. Due to very high retail prices, many patients could not purchase vital medicines, restricting their access to it,” activist Atul Gera said.The govt must set up more Jan Aushadhi Kendras in the state, ensuring easy access to generic medicines at discounted rates, he added.
About The Author
