Stavudine disfigures, affects peripheral nervous system permanently THE National AIDS Control Organisation in November procured in bulk anti-HIV drug stavudine, which is being phased out worldwide. NACO officials unofficially cite funds crunch for depending on the low-cost drug. Stavudine requires less monitoring of patients, they say. NACO provides free treatment to HIV/AIDS patients in the country. In 2010, the WHO had revised its HIV/AIDS treatment protocol and recommended countries to phase out...

-The Hindu   Achieving universal health coverage through an equitable system is among the key goals of India's 12th Plan. Within the overall objective of creating an entitlement-based health care system, one of the challenges is access to medicines. The High Level Expert Group instituted by the Planning Commission on Universal Health Coverage underscores serious policy distortions and inefficiencies that stand in the way of making essential medicines accessible to all. A...

-PTI In a reference to the people's revolutionary movements against corruption in West Asia and countries like India, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has asked nations to join forces in fighting the "cancer of corruption" which he says breeds inequality and injustice. Ban, in his message on the occasion of 'International Anti-Corruption Day', observed annually on December 9, said the poor and vulnerable sections of society may be "marginalised" by corruption, but...

New drug pricing policy proposes bringing all essential medicines under price control, but makes them expensive After years of dilly-dallying and several Supreme Court reminders, the Centre has proposed to bring all Essential drugs under price control. But the policy is nothing but hogwash. Its pricing mechanism would make essential medicines out of reach for most people. Public health experts have termed the draft National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy of 2011 a...

-The Times of India The Centre on Thursday responded to the Supreme Court's concern over spiralling prices of essential medicines and promised to make all-out efforts to put under strict price control regime all the 348 drugs included in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2011. A bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya had, in the last hearing, expressed concern over the shrinking list of medicines under...