Price hike in essential medicines

Context– Recently the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has decided to hike the price of 384 essential drugs and 1000 formulations of over 11% from 1 st April due to increase in Wholesale price index rise of 12.2%.

What are Essential drugs?

• The National list of essential medicines (NLEM) is a list of drugs by the Ministry of health and family welfare. The list is framed in lines with the world health organisation (WHO). The prices of these drugs are fixed to ceiling by the NPPA.
• The drugs include painkillers, anti -infection drugs, cardiac drugs, antibiotics, and anti- cancer drugs, anti -diabetic drugs, patented drugs for HIV, Hepatitis C, TB and all other drugs that are utmost need for the consumers.
• The criteria are safety, quality, efficacy and cost effectiveness.
• Medicines are added and deleted from the list if it is banned or for safety issues and if a medicine of better efficacy and cost effectiveness is available.

Wholesale price index– It refers to the price of goods at a wholesale stage i.e. goods that are sold in bulk and traded between organizations instead of consumers. WPI is used as a measure of inflation in some economies.   It is released by the Office of Economic Advisor under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It currently has the base year 2011-2012.

The (NPPA) the National pharmaceutical pricing authority is a regulatory body set up on 29^th august, 1997 to ensure availability, accessibility and affordability pricing of medicines.

It as statutory body.

It is under the Department of pharmaceutical, Ministry of Chemicals and fertilisers.

 Role of NPPA-

• Make essential drugs available to public at cheap rates
• Set price ceilings on drugs and selling by suppliers at MRP.
• Revise prices and fix ceiling under the Drugs(Price control ) order 2013
• Advise the central government on revisions on drugs policy
• Mange the export and import , profit of companies, individual entities on drugs and formulations

Some initiatives of NPPA

Price monitoring and resource unit (PMRU) -under the consumer awareness, publicity and price monitoring schemes

Pharma Jan samadhan– a grievance portal

Pharama data bank– online date centre of pharma companies

Pharma sahi dam– app for checking prices of drugs.

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