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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Health ministry against task force proposal to hike prices of vital drugs -Sushmi Dey

Health ministry against task force proposal to hike prices of vital drugs -Sushmi Dey

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published Published on Aug 26, 2015   modified Modified on Aug 26, 2015
-The Times of India

NEW DELHI: A government task force has recommended changes in the existing drug price regulation which could result in a spike in prices of essential medicines. These include suggestions to pull several medicines out of price control, which is likely to impact drugs used in treatment of diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases as well as antibiotics.

"There is a need to review the implementation of DPCO (Drugs Price Control Order), 2013 to resolve the genuine practical problems of implementation. The government may implement predictable and stable price control mechanisms through consultative approach with the industry," the taskforce is learnt to have said in its recommendations submitted recently to the health ministry and various government departments including department of pharmaceuticals.

However, the health ministry is against the revision of the existing price regulation. Though the ministry is yet to evaluate the task force's recommendations, officials in the ministry said it is unlikely to accept such suggestions. The health ministry, which has always maintained a stand in favour of a stricter price control regime, has also recently set up a separate committee to evaluate the impact of the current price mechanism.

Top sources in BJP as well as many other government departments also said such recommendations would not be accepted and that there is no question of hiking prices of medicines, mainly the essential ones which are used in treatment of cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

The taskforce, headed by secretary to the department of pharmaceuticals, also included members from the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) under the commerce ministry, Niti Aayog and department of science and technology (DST).

According to an official source, the panel suggested the government to maintain a balance between affordability of medicines and business viability. "It has also pointed out that over regulation of medicine prices may act as a deterrent for pharmaceutical companies to put in more investment in India and may go against the government's approach to promote foreign investment," the official said.

The recommendations assume significance coming as they do in the wake of a recent report tabled by the pharmaceutical industry highlighting the impact of price control on availability of essential medicines and new drug launches. The industry claimed there is a slowdown in both because of a flawed implementation of the pricing policy by the regulator -National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).

The drug pricing policy, approved by the UPA government in 2012, listed 348 essential medicines - prices of which were to be capped at the average of all medicines in a particular therapeutic segment with minimum of 1% market share.

However, in 2013, when NPPA started implementing the policy, it triggered a lot of resentment among drug manufacturers. Companies complained that the regulator had implemented the policy beyond its purview and included medicines outside the scope of the policy. The industry said NPPA's move brought in uncertainty for them, thereby delaying new launches.

However, the regulator has so far maintained that price regulation is done as per DPCO, 2013 and that there was a huge disparity in prices of similar medicines available in the market under different brands, sometimes from the same manufacturer. According to NPPA, the existing price regulation attempts to address this issue.

The Times of India, 26 August, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Health-ministry-against-task-force-proposal-to-hike-prices-of-vital-drugs/articleshow/48675930.cms


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