Two Jan Aushadhi centres set to reopen at Chandigarh's GMCH, GMSH

Naina Mishra

Advertisement

Chandigarh, September 4

After a halt of three years, Jan Aushadhi Kendras are all set to reopen at the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, and the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32. Besides, the three civil hospitals of the city will have pharmacies of their own.

Tender floated

The tender for allotment of the Jan Aushadhi Kendra at the GMSH-16 has been floated and space allocated. At the GMCH-32, the medical store has been finalised and will be operational soon. Yashpal Garg, Health Secretary

The Jan Aushadhi Kendras provide high-quality generic medicines which are cheaper than branded medicines. The centres were opened to popularise generic medicines among the masses and dispel the prevalent notion that low-priced generic medicines are of inferior quality or are less effective.

Quality medicines, consumables and surgical items at affordable prices for all are available at these centres. The city at present has two Jan Aushadhi Kendras at the PGI.

For the past few years, the medical shops that were earlier operated by the Red Cross Society had remained shut as the organisation expressed its inability to run them during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Health Department had allotted the space in the civil hospitals of Sector 45 and 22 and at the Mani Majra Civil Hospital to the society to run the Jan Aushadhi Kendras in 2018. The out-patient departments of the three civil hospitals get about 3,000 patients daily on an average.

The UT Health Secretary, Yashpal Garg, said, “The tender for allotment of the Jan Aushadhi Kendra at the GMSH-16 has been floated and space allocated. At the GMCH-32, the medical store has been finalised and will be operational soon. We are also planning to start pharmacies at the three civil hospitals of the city at Mani Majra, Sector 22 and Sector 45 but these will not be generic stores.”