Chandigarh August 16: The Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Punjab, Dr Navjot Sidhu met Union Health Minister Mr. Gulam Nabi Azad and discussed vital steps to be taken in improving the overall health scenario in Punjab. She apprised him of the existing health care system prevailing in the state.
Dr. Sidhu laid emphasis on the formation of a uniform drug policy with a view to breaking the nexus between drug manufacturers, Drug Inspectors, Chemists, Medical Representatives and Doctors. She said that for all companies the maximum inflation in the price of any drug should not exceed 5% between actual production cost and MRP of generic drug. Medical Traders can earn 200- 300% profit on generic drugs compared to branded drugs because multinational companies are buying generic drugs at very low cost and selling them under their brand names at exorbitant prices. So doctors should prescribe branded drugs only with least margin of profit if generic drugs are not available in their hospitals.
She said that the state Government was already taking strict measures to handle drug addiction. Mass scale counseling centers would be promoted, which could be effective in preventing drug abuse because drug addiction is generally an end product of stress in life, could be because of multiple factors. She also said that Psychiatry should be promoted as major subject in MBBS besides attaching NGOs to coordinate with psychiatrists to teach yoga, meditation and pranayama to target groups.
Dr. Sidhu urged the Union Minister for Health to formulate more rigorous rules in checking quacks and female foeticide spread all over. Unwanted surgeries could be checked by forming scanning teams at Govt. hospitals if the patient wants consultation, even if he wants to be operated in a private hospital. Uniform pattern test for all Govt. /Private medical and nursing colleges to check mushrooming of private colleges giving substandard education for overall improvement in performance levels in health services. She also said that some work policy for medical representatives should be formed for promoting the drug and some seniority policy should have been there so that they are not replaced by lower salaried youngsters without valid reason or misconduct.
Dr. Sidhu expressed concern over the rise of medico legal cases and said that mass scale reforms in Medico legal cases were required to save doctors from undue pressure from any department and save genuine patients from harassment at the hands of over influential opposite parties.
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