Thiruvananthapuram: HLL Lifecare Limited, a Miniratna Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, will be expanding its pharmacy network across the country as part of its retail public health services.
Starting its public health retail journey with an outlet at the Government Medical College Thiruvananthapuram on 26 September 2011, HLL’s retail service is completing 15 years of operations on September 26, coinciding with World Pharmacists Day.
HLL’s retail operations currently engage 2,000 pharmacists, including 863 women pharmacists, who serve patients across the country. As HLL expands its pharmacy network to around 600 outlets within the next year, the number of pharmacists is expected to grow significantly and could reach around 4,500. The expansion will also create opportunities for more pharmacists and other healthcare professionals to join HLL’s growing public-health retail network.
Starting its journey as a single outlet has today grown into a national pharmacy network of more than 300 outlets across India. There are around 20 HLL Pharmacy and Surgicals, while the total number of HLL Retail Pharmacy Centres stands at 340.
The journey began with the opening of a Lifecare Centre (LCC) at Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, on 26 September 2011. The outlet was subsequently renamed HLL Pharmacy and Surgicals, and marked HLL’s first step into retail healthcare, with a focus on making essential medicines, medical devices, implants and other healthcare products accessible and affordable to people.
Over the years, HLL has expanded its retail healthcare services through HLL Pharmacy, Free Generic Stores, HLL Opticals, AMRIT Pharmacy and AMRIT Opticals. HLL Opticals makes premium eyewear from leading brands accessible to the general public at affordable prices. It provides quality eyeglasses and lenses to ordinary people at reasonable and cost-effective prices.
A major chapter in HLL’s retail journey began in 2015, when HLL took up the implementation of AMRIT – Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment – an initiative of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GoI. AMRIT aims to provide affordable medicines for the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and other serious illnesses. It offers more than 6500 drugs, implants, surgical disposables and other consumables at average discounts of up to 50% of the Maximum Retail Price (MRP).