Udupi : Anila, Nodal Officer, Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJAP), said on Tuesday that people should take advantage of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadi Centres which provided quality medicine at affordable rates.

Speaking to presspersons on the sidelines of a Co.ordination Meeting and Seminar on Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana here, Dr. Anila said that there were 540 Jan Aushadhi outlets in the State. The State had the third largest number of such outlets in the country after Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, she said.

The highest number of Jan Aushadhi outlets in the State was in Mysuru district, which had 52, while the number of Jan Aushadhi outlets in Udupi district was 22. All the taluk headquarters in the State had Jan Aushadhi outlets. The State topped the country in the sale of medicine in Jan Aushadhi outlets, she said.

Dr. Anila said that the medicine sold at Jan Aushadhi outlets were only generic and not branded ones. Hence, these medicine were cheap as the government was not spending money on marketing them.

But there was no compromise on their quality. The medicine sold in these outlets are subjected to rigorous tests. They were procured from WHO-recognised companies. “We are not substituting medicine but only the brands,” Dr. Anila said.