Novartis upbeat on rural sales programme, to double its reach

MUMBAI: Swiss drug major Novartis' Indian arm is very upbeat about its rural sales initiative — Arogya Parviar — and plans to double its reach in the country over the next few years.

Currently, Novartis India provides healthcare services and medicines through 300 cells in 30,000 villages through its novel drug marketing initiative Arogya Parivar, its Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Ranjit Shahani, told PTI here.

Launched as a limited pilot project in three districts in 2008, Arogya Parivar now covers 202 districts in 11 states across the country.

"Arogya Parivar that started as a novel rural marketing initiative is now a profit-making body. In a span of two years, we have grown in terms of reach and volumes. We are now present in 3,00,000 villages and plan to double the figure in the next few years," Shahani said.

The company is also looking at doubling the number of cells, that are aimed at creating awareness among villagers on diseases, prevention and treatments, refer patients to doctors, brief physicians about the programme and treatments, and make products available in pharmacies.

On investments, Shahani said, such an initiative needs high upfront investments before one could expect a break-even.