Question : PROCUREMENT OF AYURVEDIC AND UNANI MEDICINES

(a) whether Price Regulatory Board has not been constituted for purchasing Ayurvedic and Unani medicines for the dispensaries of Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) situated in New Delhi and in its absence costly and sub-standard medicines are being supplied to the CGHS dispensaries by suppliers;

(b) the reasons for absence of a system of quality control monitoring for purchase of medicines in the above-said dispensaries;

(c) whether it is also true that pharmaceutical companies are supplying their sub-standard medicines to the Government at very high prices for CGHS dispensaries due to lack of Price Regulatory Board and proper arrangement of quality control whereas good quality products of branded and standard pharmaceutical companies are available at very low prices; and

(d) the reasons for purchasing costly medicines from sub-standard pharmaceutical companies but not purchasing cheap and qualitative medicines from the branded and standard pharmaceutical companies and the names of officers responsible for this?

MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI GHULAM NABI AZAD)

(a) to (d): No sub standard medicines are supplied to CGHS beneficiaries. CGHS procures quality medicines. To monitor the quality of medicines supplied to CGHS, it adopts quality testing at different levels of procurement.

CGHS procures Ayurvedic and Unani medicines mainly from the Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Almorah, Uttarakhand, a Government of India Enterprise, under the administrative control of Department of AYUSH. It manufactures quality medicines by following the well established and coded process of manufacturing.

CGHS procures other medicines which are not manufactured or supplied by IMPCL, from other reputed manufacturers to ensure good quality of medicines.

In addition, CGHS also procures medicines prescribed by the Ayurvedic or Unani Physicians, and which are not available in the dispensary, from the Authorised Local Chemists (ALC).