Financial benefit of antidiabetic drugs available at jan aushadhi (people's drug) stores to geriatric pensioners: A pilot study from India

Background: For the elderly, affected with Type II diabetes the costs for medications can be immense and forms a substantial part of their savings and pensions. Aims and Objectives: Diabetes mellitus is a major health issue in India and the treatment costs severely affect the elderly who are dependent on their family or on their pensions. In this study, we evaluated the economic cost of branded versus Jan Aushadhi drugs for geriatric pensioners. Materials and Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional study and was conducted at the outpatient department of General medicine and Endocrinology at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Ernakulam, Kerala, India. The prescriptions of patients attending the clinic for the care of type II diabetes and associated co-morbidities were analysed. The age, sex, and the number of medications were noted. The price of the costliest, cheapest, and most prescribed branded drugs were noted from the CIMS index 2020, while that for Jan Aushadhi drug was observed from the price catalogue. The financial cost burden on retired aged citizens was calculated by considering INR 8000 as the pension amount. Results: The average cost of the drugs when bought from the costliest brands amounted to 2592.52, of which 750.31 amounted for antidiabetics, while when purchased from Jan Aushadhi was 542.3 and 350.46, respectively. The percentages of the cost required for monthly treatment for an individual with 8000 INR pension for the branded drug was 32.4% and 6.77% for all medications and antidiabetic drugs, while when bought from Jan Aushadhi was 9.37 and 4.38, respectively. Conclusions: A significant difference between cost for Jan Aushadhi and branded drugs and this can be of benefit to the geriatric pensioners. As far as the authors are aware of this is the first study that addresses the beneficial effect of Jan Aushadhi antidiabetic drugs in the geriatric pensioners and has high relevance and use in public health.