Low cost medicines & devices bring new lease of life

New Delhi, Oct 26: The Narendra Modi government has taken bold steps to offer affordable healthcare to common people of the country. The Modi government has walked the talk of 'Affordable, Quality Healthcare for All'.

Drugs Under Price Control:

Drug price regulator NPPA has fixed the ceiling price for 92 drug formulations, including those used for treatment of cancer, hepatitis C, migraine and diabetes among others.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said while the retail price of 72 scheduled formulations has been fixed, that of 9 has been revised. Further, the authority has also revised the retail prices of 11 scheduled formulations.

"NPPA has fixed/revised ceiling prices/retail prices of 92 formulations under Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013," it said in a notification.

NPPA fixes the ceiling price of essential medicines of Schedule I under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO) 2013. In respect of medicines that are not under price control, manufacturers are allowed to increase the maximum retail price by 10 per cent annually.

Janaushadhi Pariyojana:

As on 05.03.2018, under Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), 3214 Kendras have been opened in 33 States/Union Territories of the Country and are functional in order to make available quality generic medicines at affordable prices to all. A State/UT-wise list of 3214 functional PMBJP Kendras, including in West Bengal, Gujarat, Kerala and Maharastra.

Under PMBJP, the product basket of the scheme now covers more than 700 medicines and 154 surgicals and consumables covering all major therapeutic groups such as Analgesics, Antipyretics, Anti-allergies, Anti-infectives, Anti-diabetic, Cardiovasculars, Anti-cancers, Gastro-intestinal medicines, Diuretics, etc. 666 medicines and 81 surgicals are available for supply under Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Priyojna.

Deregulating Stents:

Government has notified the ceiling prices of Coronary Stent vide notification dated 13th Feb 2017 at Rs. 7,260 for Bare Metal Stent( BMS) and Rs 29,600 for Drug Eluting Stent (DES) (including
BVS and Biodegradable Stent). After accounting for WPI, the ceiling prices were revised to Rs. 7,400 for BMS and Rs. 30,180 for DES with effect from 1-4-2017. As per data provided by the stent
Annual Report 2017-18 102 manufacturers and importers before price notification, the average MRP was Rs. 45,100 for BMS and Rs. 121,400 for DES. The price reduction therefore worked out to 85% for BMS and 74% for DES. The fixation of ceiling price of coronary stents enabled the annual saving of Rs. 4,450 crores to the public.

Knee plants

Based on the numbers of about 1 to 1.5 lakh orthopaedic knee procedures done in India every year, there will be a saving of about Rs.1500 crore for the people of India per annum. It is a step to prevent Unethical Profiteering and ensure Affordable and Quality Healthcare for the Last Man.