News
Parliamentary panel reviews price spike of medicines
Summary
- The Parliamentary Standing Committee evaluated essential medicine pricing on 7 Jan, amidst a 50% price increase announced last Oct. The Department of Pharmaceuticals reported on fixed prices for numerous drugs and the operation of 14,500 Jan Aushadhi Kendras to offer affordable medicines nationwide.
New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers reviewed the prices of essential medicines on 7 January in a meeting attended by officials from the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP).
This move may lead to a lowering of prices of life-saving medicines.
The union government announced a 50% hike in the price of essential drugs, as approved by the National Pharmaceutical Price Authority (NPPA) last October.
“There was a review briefing by the representatives of the department of pharmaceuticals to the Parliamentary panel on price rise of medicines in the pharmaceutical sector impacting the lives of ordinary citizens adversely," said an official aware of the matter.
“The department deliberated the steps taken by them in ensuring the availability of affordable and good quality medicines, consumable and medical devices to the people. For instance, the ceiling prices of 37 formulations have been fixed in the current calendar year, retail prices of 440 new drugs have been fixed in current calendar year," said the official adding that ceiling prices of 131 anti-cancer formulations are effective.
Also read: Centre to reclassify medical devices to bring regulatory uniformity
While the prices of the medicines are regulated by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the Department of Pharmaceuticals is responsible for promotion of the pharmaceutical industry. It also works to augment the production and supply of essential drugs and medical devices in the country.
It was also informed that the availability of key medicines at the retail level is being monitored through regular surveys conducted by Price Monitoring Resource Units (PMRUs) in their respective States/ UTs at chemist shops at various locations across the country.
The government has made 14,500 Jan Aushadhi Kendras operational across the country which provide good quality medicines at low cost, the official said.
Queries sent to the department of pharmaceutical spokesperson remained unanswered.
Also read: Parliamentary panel to review apex drug regulator’s performance on stopping spurious drugs
Last week, Mint reported that the Parliamentary panel reviewed the performance of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on its efforts to control the sale of spurious and fake medicines in the country.
India’s pharmaceutical market is valued at $50 billion; with domestic consumption accounting for $23.5 billion.
