AMRIT pharmacy at AIIMS Bhubaneswar to sell medicines at 60% discount

People can purchase medicines at a discount of 60 per cent from the AMRIT pharmacy at AIIMS Bhubaneswar soon.

This facility is not restricted for patients in AIIMS BBSR alone. Others can also avail this benefit by bringing valid prescriptions.

AMRIT (Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment) is an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to provide affordable medicines for treatment of cancer, cardiovascular and other diseases.

They have identified 202 drugs of cancer and cardio-vascular diseases where the price is going to be reduced on an average by 60 to 90 per cent. In the same way, 148 cardiac implants will be given from the centre and sold here and their cost will be reduced by 50 to 60 per cent.

The Government of India owned HLL Lifecare Ltd (HLL) will establish and run AMRIT pharmacy, which will sell both drugs and implants at significant discount on market rates, based on authentic prescriptions from doctors to patients not only from AIIMS but other hospitals also.

The government’s move came amid disturbing statistics that peg Indians diagnosed with cancer at 7,00,000 every year. An official report says 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 1,45,000, according to the World Health Organization.

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