India may extend price control to more drugs

The government is likely to raise the number of drugs that come under the classification of essential drugs and are subject to price controls, in a bid to make these affordable for the common man.

A 12-member committee appointed by the union health ministry to review the list of essential drugs has decided to add more drugs to the list of essential medicines to be brought under price controls.

The committee, chaired by the director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research VM Katoch, met on Tuesday to review the national list of essential medicines whose prices have to be brought to affordable levels.

The list of essential drugs was revised last year to bring 348 bulk drugs and formulations under the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority from 74 bulk drugs and their formulations earlier.

The move to increase the number of affordable drugs in a country where less than 20 per cent are covered by health insurance will help 70 per cent of the 1.2 billion people who live on less than $2 a day.

According to the pharmaceutical industry, as much as 20 per cent of the market is currently under price control, which translates to almost Rs16,000 crore worth of the market where product margins are under squeeze.

Increasing the number of drugs under the list of essential medicines would mean squeezing their margins further, they say.

DG Shah, secretary general, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, said the government should review the existing list of medicines to weed out those that are not essential instead of going for a comprehensive revision of the list of essential drugs

According to him, a mere increase in the number of the essential medicines will not serve the government's purported intention of providing universal healthcare in the country.

While prices in the private market should be reasonable, he said, putting more price controls would dry up supplies as manufacturers lose the incentive to increase production of essential medicines in the long run.