Medical reps state level meet begins in Karimnagar

Karimnagar: The 3-day Andhra Pradesh Medical and Sales Representatives Union's (APMSRU) 34th state level programme was launched at Vaisya Bhavan in Karimnagar on Friday. APMSRU state president Mukund Kulkarni, addressing the meeting, said that the union held many agitations opposing globalization, economic liberalization and privatization of various industries in the country. Eighty percent of people are not in a position to purchase life saving drugs and foreign based multi-national companies are responsible for the unfortunate position in the country, he said. These companies, through their investment, spreading their business activities and the local companies are not in a position to compete them, he regretted. The small pharmaceutical companies are taken over by the big MNCs resulting in large scale unemployment in the pharma sector. The union has identified 372 life saving drugs and the list was submitted to the Union Government. The Government has to take steps so that these medicines would be available to common people on reasonably cheaper rates, he opined.A The governments have to take stringent measures to stop production of cheap medicines, Kulkarni said. The union's state general secretary A G Raj Mohan said that their union has been fighting against corruption and unethical practices of the pharmaceutical companies for the past four decades. The MNCs, in the name of franchisees, have been appointing medical representatives in pharmaceutical companies. Medical representatives are deprived of the job security due to the policies adopted by the MNCs, he said. The Karimnagar district unit of the APMSRU organised the programme. CITU All India vice-president Veeraiah, Federation of Medical Representatives Union national secretary Alok Banerjee, Karimnagar IMA president B N Rao and Chalmeda Ananda Rao Medical College chairman Chalmeda Lakshmi Narasimha Rao addressed the gathering. About 1,000 delegates from different parts of the state were present at the meeting.