'Affordable' drive: Govt asks chemists to display generic drugs prominently

Experts believe the move will have little impact given limited production of generic drugs and authority of doctors in prescribing medicines.

The government has made it mandatory for all chemists to display generic medicines prominently as a part of a larger push to make health care affordable.

A decision in this regard was taken by the government's Drug Technical Advisory board and communicated to all state governments by S Eswara Reddy, Drug Controller General of India on Tuesday.

“It has been decided that every retail outlet should provide for a separate shelf or rack reserved exclusively for stocking generic medicines in the licensed premises,” Reddy said. The generic medicines have to be stored separate from other medicines and shall be visible