Meghalaya Government to draw up new drug policy

The people of Meghalaya have for long demanded that there should be a fixed price of medicines supplied by the Directorate of Health Services in the state.

The Meghalaya government has decided to draw up a new policy to regulate fluctuations in prices of life-saving and essential drugs in the state.

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The people of Meghalaya have for long demanded that there should be a fixed price of medicines supplied by the Directorate of Health Services in the state.

According to the principal secretary of the state's Health Department, WMS Pariat, the new policy would ensure that basic and essential drugs were easily available to the poorer sections of society. The policy would be prepared within a month, officials said. What however isn't clear at this stage is whether the new policy would also take into consideration the fact that Meghalaya of late has also become a lucrative market for spurious drugs.

Officials meanwhile have said that a central drug store that would function under the state's Health Department and would help regulate the supply of essential drugs in the state, was also being considered by the Government.