expert corner
healthcare costs.
Focus on cancer care
within health systems
can make a big
difference
There are few
initiatives by the
government to
provide affordable
cancer drugs to the
poor people. One
such scheme is called
AMRIT Affordable
Medicines and
Reliable Implants for
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BioVoiceNews | September 2017
Treatment (AMRIT).
The pharmacy which
has been set up at
AIIMS aims to provide
drugs at highly
discounted rates.
Another such initiative
is Pradhan Mantri
Bhartiya Janaushadhi
Pariyojana’, it is a
campaign launched
by the Department
of Pharmaceuticals
to provide quality
medicines at affordable
prices to the masses.
It has been set up to
provide generic drugs,
which are available
at lesser prices but
are equivalent in
quality and efficacy
as expensive branded
drugs. Many of the
state governments
have special programs
like “ Arogyashree”
which provides the
cancer medicines free
of cost to the eligible
patients. Millions of
patients are being
benefitted by these
initiatives