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Dear Friend,
I am glad to share with you some of the highlights of the year 2012-13.
We have taken up a strong advocacy campaign for ‘access to affordable medicines’ and ‘unethical medical practices’. We have organised number of programmes on these subjects in collaboration with India International Centre and India Habitat Centre, taken up issues with powers that be and also had a hearing before full bench of National Human Rights Commission in September, 2012. The results are before you. The Govt has finally approved the criteria of fixing the ceiling price of 348 medicines under National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) by adopting the simple average price of all the brands having market share of 1% or more.Ø
Ø Not any less significant is the fact that Supreme Court in the case of anti-cancer drug Glivec demonstrated how the cost of treatment can be reduced from Rs 1,20,000 per month to Rs 8500 per month at one stroke if only the right decisions are taken! Ministry of Corporate Affairs took up its own study, which found that several leading pharmaceutical companies are resorting to mark up of 1100% and more! And Controller of Patents in India granted compulsory license for ‘sorafenib tosylate’ (brand name ‘Nexavar’) by Bayers in favour of Hyderabad based Natco Pharma, reducing the price of cancer drug ‘Nexavar’ by 97%! Everyone seems to be promoting our campaign for affordable drugs!
Though these are occasional sparks and not as good as Consumers India had campaigned for, these steps will definitely provide substantial relief to consumers and pave the way for many more campaigns along the way!
Ø Our campaign for making banking consumer friendly, whether it is a case of education loan for higher studies or opening of new bank account, has also received favourable consideration. RBI has informed us of the steps taken by them to make banking consumer-friendly. More and more banks are coming forward to provide banking services to the unbanked and it is expected that the ongoing efforts of the Govt to transfer benefits through banks will further smoothen the process.
Our campaign against Misleading Advertisements is exciting many a young minds and several of our interns have conducted studies on misleading ads pertaining to weight reduction, hair transplantation, junk food and nutritional supplements etc.
We acknowledge the contribution made by our youth towards the success of our initiatives. As a matter of fact, several students have come up with valuable information and suggestions in the studies conducted by them during internship with Consumers India. The Internship programme was flagged off by Consumers India during September 2012 and the experience of four batches since then has been really enriching!
‘I am a city changer campaign’ launched by Consumers India during 2012 really caught fire and we were flooded with entries for painting, slogan and online photography contests from the remotest nooks and corners of the country! The response, in terms of prizes, had to match the overwhelming flow of high-quality entries. Over 300 entries were, therefore, selected from 130 Institutions for Prizes and Certificates. The prize-winning institutions are dotted all over the country, including the remotest corners like Goalpara in Assam, Zemabawk (Aizawl) in Mizoram, Garhi (Udhampur) in J&K, Karakhul (Imphal) in Manipur, Malappuram in Kerala, Latehar in Jharkhand, to name a few. We are confident, this enthusiasm will not be limited to sending entries for contests and our youth will really contribute their might to change their cities for the better!
‘Protect consumers from hazards of electronic waste’, ‘Are we ready to ensure quality ageing?’, ‘Junk the junk food’, ‘Access to safe drinking water is a basic human right’, ‘End Criminalization of Politics’, ‘Justice Just Now’ are some of our other concerns/campaigns.
The Face Book Page of Consumers India as also our Blog ‘drjayashreegupta.blogspot.com
Full text of our Annual Report for 2012-13 can be seen on our Blog as per following link:
Link to FB Page is given below:
Consumers India will be fighting many more battles in the coming days with new zeal and zest. We are confident, with you on our side, we will go miles and miles ….!
Best wishes,
Dr (Mrs)Jayashree Gupta, President, Consumers India
& Chairperson, Human Rights Group,
SUM, An NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of United Nations,
Former Additional Secretary to Government of India &
Chairperson & Managing Director
Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Limited, A Govt. of India enterprise
& Chairperson, Human Rights Group,
SUM, An NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of United Nations,
Former Additional Secretary to Government of India &
Chairperson & Managing Director
Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Limited, A Govt. of India enterprise
E 7/16, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi 110057