The health ministry is a key champion of generics. It is the single largest purchaser of generics. In the past 2 decades, the generic industry has undergone massive changes to ensure that the quality efficacy and safety aspects are on par with the developed world. <p>
It is well known that generic competition leads to more affordable medicines.
However the uptake rate of generics outside of health ministry has yet to catch up.<p>
I am pretty sure my colleagues in MOPI wishes the uptake to be higher. But we are not asking that the private be compelled to adopt but rather be persuaded to adopt generics. <p>
We hope that working hand in hand, the health ministry and industry can look at initiatives to promote the use of generics and biosimilars, especially among private health care providers, even to the point of educating consumers.