By Parvez ud Din
Srinagar: Amid a rising trend of self-medication, Jammu and Kashmir is emerging as a huge market for pharmaceuticals with the annual drug consumption amounting to a whopping Rs 3500 crore, ETV Bharat has learnt.
A senior official in the Health and Medical Education Department, speaking to ETV Bharat on condition of anonymity, revealed that the pharmaceutical business in Jammu and Kashmir is worth crores of rupees annually. He stated that the J&K Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (JKMSCL), which procures medicines and other medical equipment for the Health and Medical Education Department and hospitals across Jammu and Kashmir, purchases medicines worth approximately Rs 3,500 crore every year.
This figure also includes the medicines purchased independently by Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura and other associated hospitals.
Experts suggest that the rising trend of self-medication for various ailments, including diabetes and high blood pressure, has significantly contributed to the pharmaceutical boom in the region. A senior officer from the Drug and Food Control Organization, which oversees the medicine trade in Jammu and Kashmir, noted that not only patients with chronic conditions but also the general public have increasingly turned to self-medication. Given this trend, it is estimated that each individual in Jammu and Kashmir consumes medicines worth more than Rs 2,000 annually.
He added that there is hardly a household in Kashmir without a variety of medicines, and even those who consider themselves healthy frequently take medications without consulting a doctor.
A deeper look into the private pharmaceutical sector reveals an even more startling picture. Abdul Ahad Bhat, Chairman of the Srinagar Chemists and Distributors Association, stated that traders associated with their organization in Kashmir conduct monthly transactions exceeding Rs 100 crore, amounting to Rs 1,200–1,500 crore annually. However, the actual pharmaceutical trade in Kashmir is much larger than Rs 1,500 crore, as Srinagar alone has around 2,800 registered drug dealers and distributors, of which only 1,300 are affiliated with the association.
Moreover, many doctors have established their own pharmaceutical companies and prescribe only their own brands of medicines. Additionally, nearly every private hospital and diagnostic center in Kashmir operates its own pharmacy. Given this widespread commercialization, the true scale of the pharmaceutical trade in Kashmir is difficult to quantify. However, a cautious estimate suggests that the private-sector medicine trade alone is worth thousands of crores of rupees.
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