-The Hindu
“Due to the out-of-pocket spending of their income on medicines and healthcare services, about 3.2 per cent of India’s population will come below the poverty line,” a senior WHO official said at a meet organised by the Delhi Society for Promotion of Rational Use of Drugs (DSPRUD) and WHO on “Medication Safety in Hospitals” here recently.
WHO Regional Advisor Kathleen A. Holloway said most Indians were spending their out-of-pocket income up to an extent of 70 per cent on medicines and healthcare services in comparison to 30 per cent to 40 per cent ratio in other Asian countries like Sri Lanka. And still, she said, these Indians were suffering from the infected diseases in the absence of best quality of drugs and healthcare facilities.
Dr. Holloway further stressed the need for effective monitoring system in India and expressed her concern at the lack of Drugs and Therapeutics Committee (DTC) and Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee (PTC) in Indian hospitals despite WHO’s committed efforts over the last 10 years in this direction. “These committees can play an effective role in India to provide the patients more efficient and rational use of medicines,” she said.
Medical Council of India secretary Sangeeta Sharma said the Council had been receiving complaints from many sections of the society on the side effects of drugs prescribed by the doctors. “In view of lower awareness among the rural community about the Medical Council, majority of complaints are being received from cities only,” Dr. Sharma added.
Quality Council of India (QCI) secretary-general Girdhar Gyani said the QCI will shortly come up with three new standards for medication safety and ensure that patients in India get superior quality drugs.
DSPRUD president R. Parmeswar said in the United States alone, over 98,000 people have died in the past due to medication error cases and one can imagine the medication errors cases in India, where DTC/PTCs do not function well in comparison.