New Delhi, May 17: Holding that cheap generic drugs are the key to prevention and control of diseases, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today said recent attempts to confiscate in transit, legitimate exports of such medicines from India have been viewed with concern by the government.
“Affordable diagnostic kits and cheap but good quality generic drugs hold the key to any meaningful progress on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. We, therefore, view with concern recent attempts to confiscate in transit, legitimate exports of generic drugs from India,” Azad said in his address at the World Health Assembly in Geneva.
“We are very clear that unless our people can afford and access treatment, their health seeking behaviour would not change.
“There would be no meaningful impact on the Non Communicable Diseases Incidence (NCDs) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) would continue to be an uphill task,” he said.
–Agencies