MedicineShoppe creates access to affordable healthcare and quality medicines for low-income communities in urban India
The Challenge
- It is estimated that 30-40% of drugs sold in India are spurious. There is a large proportion of people living in low-income communities in urban India who do not have access to quality, critical drugs from reputed sources.
- Hospitalized Indians spend on average 58% of their total annual expenditures on healthcare. Over 40% of them borrow heavily to cover expenses and over 25% fall below the poverty line because of hospital expenses. Much of this could be avoided if there were access to affordable health check-ups on a regular basis.
The Innovation
- Medicine Shoppe, the second largest pharmacy chain in India, places a strong emphasis on safety and quality, and has enjoyed considerable success serving India’s wealthy, urban populations. With Acumen Fund’s help, Medicine Shoppe is now offering the same quality in low-income markets.
- Medicine Shoppe has developed a new store format called Sehat (meaning Health) for low-income areas, where health consultations are provided at no cost, and the appropriate medicines or other pharmacy products are sold at affordable prices. Each Sehat centre has a clinic manned by an MBBS qualified doctor, with a Medicine Shoppe pharmacy and vision centre next door.
The Impact
- Medicine Shoppe currently operates over 130 stores in 6 states across India and it has successfully piloted 8 low-cost health centres that serve poor communities. It plans to open close to 600 Sehat locations in low-income and rural areas over the next five years.
- More than 6,000 people have already been served by the Sehat centres in about 9 months.