Agartala, Sept 8 (TIWN) The Left Front government in Tripura will soon introduce Rajasthan model to provide generic medicines to people to reduce their medical treatment costs.

Tripura’s health department director Satya Ranjan Debbarma told reporters : “By March next year, the Tripura government expected to introduce in all government hospitals to provide generic medicines to people instead of branded medicines.”

Branded medicines in India cost 5 to15 times more than non-branded generic medicines.

Mr Debbarma, who along with other Tripura doctors had recently visited Rajasthan to see themselves about distribution of generic medicines among the people in that state, said that the generic medicines are directly to be supplied through stockists at actual cost and a limited profit. 

“Prices of branded medicines are generally higher than prices of equivalent generic medicines due to various reasons, including that of marketing process,” the official added.

He said that state’s health minister Tapan Chakraborty had also visited Rajasthan recently to examine the scheme of supply generic medicines.

The health director said : “The health department has settled an understanding with the Tripura State Cooperative Bank to start a pharmacy of generic medicine inside the Gobinda Ballav Panth government medical college and hospital complex here.”

Tamil Nadu was the first state in India to introduce 100 percent generic medicine.