Emerging trends in medicine procurement in government sector in India - A critical study

In 1994 a couple of Indian states ventured to introduce innovative methods in medicine procurement with the primary objective of making uninterrupted availability of essential medicines in their government hospitals. It was Delhi, the national capital territory (NCT) of India which took the lead in developing a comprehensive drug policy. Delhi entrusted the responsibility to a non-governmental agency- the Delhi Society for the Promotion of Rational Use of Drugs (DSPRUD) and managed to get considerable financial support from WHO. Tamil Nadu, a major state in India started a corporation styled as Tamil Nadu Medical Service Corporation (TNMSC) registered under the Companies Act 1956 in July 1994. With the help of a well designed and scientifically planned scheme TNMSC could introduce many innovations and thereby revolutionize the public drug procurement system in the country. A team of committed and dedicated bureaucrats and technocrats made TNMSC not only a great success but a model worth emulating for the entire nation and perhaps for the world. Currently the Indian states are competing among themselves in adopting the TNMSC model.