In News
- Recently, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority announced a change in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for the year 2023 in accordance with the Drugs (Price Control) Order, 2013, or DPCO, 2013.Â
About
- The Union Health Ministry maintains a National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) which satisfies the priority health care needs of the population.
- The list is made with consideration to disease prevalence, efficacy, safety and comparative cost-effectiveness of the medicines.
- The medicines listed in the NLEM are sold below a price ceiling fixed by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)
- The price ceiling is fixed by NPPA based on Annual change in the WPI.
- This year’s increase is because of 12.12% annual change in WPIÂ
Drug Pricing Mechanism:
- Drugs sold in India are categorised in scheduled and non scheduled drugs.
- The drugs included in NLEM are called scheduled drugs. Their prices are regulated by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) Â which caps their prices and changes them only based on wholesale price index-based inflation.
- The other drugs are called non scheduled drugs and their prices can increase upto to 10 per cent every year.
Issues with Drug Pricing Regulation
- Medicines are mostly sold on a per unit basis in india. Regulating cost of a strip is not effective.
- Access to essential medicines is very low
- The NLEM comprises only 348 drugs leaving out many essential medicines under price control.
- It does not cover combination drugs. If a price-controlled drug is combined with the non-price controlled drug, it will come out of the price control.
- No penalties against the companies in case of non-compliance with respect to the orders of NPPA.
Way forward:
- Improving access for medicines through subsidised medicines along with increase of awareness regarding prices will have positive impacts on the health of the country.
Source:IE
