Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment

Statistics indicate that Indians diagnosed with cancer are 700,000 every year. About 2.8 million people have cancer at any point of time and half a million die of the disease each year. The annual figure of women being diagnosed with breast cancer in India is 145,000, according to the World Health Organisation. A significant number of patients (nearly over 50 per cent) stop visiting hospitals after two or three cycles of chemotherapy due to unaffordable costs.

Hence, with the aim to reduce the expenditure incurred by patients on treatment of cancer and heart diseases, the Ministry for Health & Family Welfare, has launched the Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) programme.

AMRIT retail outlets

As part of the programme, retail outlets will sell drugs for the cancer and heart diseases at highly discounted rates. The AMRIT pharmacy would be selling 202 cancer and 186 cardio-vascular drugs, and 148 types of cardiac implants at very affordable prices. Patients can buy medicines and implants at 50 to 60 percent cheaper prices than the open market from AMRIT outlet.

The project has been floated in a tie-up with government-owned HLL Lifecare Ltd (HLL) which is deputed to establish and run the AMRIT chain of pharmacies across the country.

AMRIT centres

1. AIIMS, New Delhi - The first AMRIT centre was launched at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi on November 15, 2015.
2. Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh
3. Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi
4. RML hospital, New Delhi
5. Safdarjung hospital, Delhi
6. Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research in (JIPMER), Puducherry
7. AIIMS, Rishikesh
8. AIIMS, Raipur
9. North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Shillong
10. Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal
11. All India Institute Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur

Source : PIB