Essential Drugs in Government Healthcare: Emerging Model of Procurement and Supply

Medicines are important in curing and preventing diseases, and hence, the ultimate goal of `Health for All’ cannot be achieved if people do not have adequate access to essential drugs. Evidences show that substantial savings can be achieved by improving the selection and quantification of drug requirements through the use of essential drug lists and by purchasing drugs competitively. In India, though there exists a national drug list, different states have their own list of state formulary which may or may not necessarily be based on the list of essential drugs. A few state governments in India have their formulary based on the list of essential drugs. The state government of Tamil Nadu besides adopting a list of essential drugs has also streamlined the procurement and distribution of the same which is being looked upon as a model by other state governments. This paper details the procedures adopted by the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation in procuring and supplying essential drugs to the government health care which is a positive measure in ensuring `health for all’. [GIDR WP NO 161]