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Osu Hala in new CWE shops
With the government taking over and reopening CWE retail outlets this month, the People’s Movement for the Rights of Patients has urged that Osu Hala pharmacies be set up in main CWE outlets.

A spokesman for the PMRP said the Consumer Affairs Ministry and the State Pharmaceutical Corporation had earlier drawn up plans to set up Osu Hala outlets in the main CWE retail shops to provide quality drugs at affordable prices. But the private company which ran the CWE outlets till recently had asked the SPC for a big sum as rent and thus the plan did not work out.

With the government taking back control of CWE retail outlets, Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle has assured that he could allocate space for Osu Hala outlets at minimal rates. The PMRP spokesman said that with the health Ministry seeking Cabinet approval for a National Medicinal Drugs Policy, the Osu Hala outlets in CWE retail shops could make available quality drugs under generic or low cost brand names.

At present the SPC retail outlets are few and far between thus denying many people access to quality generic drugs at affordable prices. Some years ago the SPC had proposed that Osu Hala outlets be set up in every electorate but financial problems prevented this.

Now the link up between the CWE and the SPC could mark a major breakthrough in making quality drugs available to millions of people at affordable prices.

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