The problem
Indian households paid 39.4% of the country's health spending out of their own pockets in 2021–22, according to the National Health Accounts. That is down from 64.2% in 2013–14. Medicines are the largest part of it.
The same drug is often sold far cheaper as a generic. Government Jan Aushadhi stores sell generics at 50–90% below open-market prices, and research on the scheme documents wide price gaps between generic and branded versions.
A patient holding a prescription cannot easily use this. They have no way to tell which generic matches the brand the doctor wrote, or whether a store nearby has it.
- Who has this problem
- Families paying for long-term medicines, especially in rural areas and on lower incomes.
- Languages needed
- Hindi and regional languages
Where the demand comes from
What people do today
- The workaround
- They buy the brand on the prescription, or ask the chemist for something cheaper.
- Why that fails
- Patients cannot tell which generic is the same medicine, and the chemist's suggestion is not independent advice.
How others solved it2
Products and services that work on a similar problem, in India and elsewhere.
- Jan Aushadhi KendrasIndia
Government stores that sell generic medicines at low prices.
- GoodRxUSA
Compares prescription prices across pharmacies and offers discount coupons.
Read and watch2
Where the facts on this page come from.