Soon, font size of generic medicine names will be larger than brand name

In a bid to make healthcare affordable for the people, the central government is promoting low-cost generic medicines. The central government issued a notification and has directed all pharmaceutical companies to print generic medicine names on the label with a bigger font. A senior official said the font size should be two times bigger than the brand or trade name and it will come into effect from September 2018.

This initiative has been undertaken by the central government to break the nexus between doctors and the pharmaceutical companies. “We are taking several steps for promoting generic medicine for capping the stent and other medicine rates,” said an official.

The gazette notification from the government reads, “The proper name of drug or fixeddose combination drug, other than fixed-dose combination of vitamins and other fixed-dose combinations containing three or more drugs, shall be printed or written in a conspicuous manner which shall be in the same font but at least two font size bigger than the brand name of trade name.”

“In other cases the brand name or the trade name, if any, shall be written in brackets below or after the proper name and shall be substituted’

The health activists have welcomed this step saying it will curb the unholy nexus between doctors and pharmaceutical companies. “They are the one who generally refuses to issue generic medicines. The government should also include training in generic medicines in the medical syllabus,” said YP Yajurvedi Rao, President of Society for Awareness of Civil Rights.

He added that most times the cost of generic medicine is increased citing the brand name. With this step, people will get to know more about the generic medicines and they will also buy them. “There is no denial that good quality generic medicine are always comparable to the branded medicine,” said Dr Pritam Chandak, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist.