Comparison of prices of commonly used drugs in AMRIT pharmacy, Jan Aushadhi Centre and Private chemist shop: An analytical study from a tertiary care centre in Haryana

Background: The price of medicine in India has always been a point of discussion in public domain. The price range of the same drug is very large with more than 100% difference between various brands available in different settings. Aims and Objectives: To assess the price of different drugs at Jan Aushasdhi (JA), AMRIT and Private Chemist and to compare the prices of these three outlets so that the issues. Material and Methods: This institution-based cross-sectional study was carried out from May 2019 to June 2019. A pretested proforma was prepared to compare the prices of 284 different medicines in Jan Aushadhi, AMRIT and private chemist shops. The collected data were entered in an Excel spreadsheet and presented in Proportions, percentages, and mean. Results: The price of 284 medicines were compared from JA (Median(IQR)- 15.18(18.75) INR) and Private chemist shop (Median(IQR)-88(111.5) INR) while 249 medicine from AMRIT (Median(IQR)-61.05(78.33) INR). Although the majority of the AMRIT drugs are cheaper than the chemist shop except for 31% of Antipsychotic drugs, 26.6% of antihypertensives, 25% of respiratory drugs, 25% of steroids, 21.9% of antibiotics. Conclusion: We concluded that JA is providing drugs cheaper than AMRIT and Private chemist . The prices of medicines offered at AMRIT are lower than market pricing but they are costlier when compared to JA prices.