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| Let India emulate Pakistan to reduce drug prices | | |
If not in the case of arresting activities of terrorists in Pakistan Islamabad has initiated tough measures for forcing various pharmaceutical companies to denotify 15 per cent hike in the prices of medicines which was announced recently.The announcement of price hike in medicines,including life saving drugs,had enraged people in Pakistan.Already Pakistan is reeling uncer severe financial crunch and energy crisis.Drop in industrial production had increased the level of unemployment thereby making it difficult for people to purchase medicines at higher rates.And if not anybody else Prime Minister,Nawaz Sharif,has taken a notice of the increase in drug prices. And has directed pharmaceutical companies to denotify the price hike immediately. The Ministry of National Health Services had ,the other day,announced an increase opf 15 per cent in prices of all registered medicines on the plea that the prices of drugs had not been increased since 2001.And during these 12 years like any other nation Pakistan too had been gripped by inflation which had made it difficult for the Pharmaceutical companies to manufacture quality drugs.
And Nawaz Sharif succeeded in enforcing his order.The order announcing 15 per cent hike in drug prices has been withdrawn after the Prime Minister made it known that the price rise was unacceptable and the prices have to remain unchanged. The Government has been pressurized by the pharmaceutical companies for increasing the prices of medicines.The establishment in Pakistan has taken the right step by getting the price hike order denotified because it had fears that allowing the Pharmaceutical companies to have their say could invite anger of people against the Nawaz Sharif led Government.But such things seldom take place in India.During the last five years people,especially those who have to bank on series of medicines for survival,have felt the pinch of periodic rise in the prices of medicines.Instead of trying to force the pharmaceutical companies to reduce prices of drugs and introduce atleast five-year moratorium on price rise prices of medicines,including life saving drugs,keep on rising intermittently.And during the last five years prices of various medicines in India have registered between 20 and 25 per cent and in case of drugs used in emergencies there has over 30 per cent increase during the last five to seven years.
And again instead of tackling inflation in prices of medicines the Government has been suggesting to people to use generic drugs,which are available at lower prices.The alternative system would have proved helpful to people had the generic medicines been available as freely as non-generic drugs are available in the market.The Government has announced opening of outlets for generic medicines in some hospitals and,at one stage,it had issued instructions to all chemists and druggists to sell generic medicines alongwith non-generic drugs.Majority of chemists in India have not made generic medicines available because they may not be able to earn profit. And visiting some selected hospitals,where generic medicines are being sold,is not as simple as the Government wants people to believe.In this context the Government of India needs either to emulate Islamabad and enforce reduction in the prices of non-generic medicines or frame a comprehensive policy under which generic medicines were available in all the shops of chemists throughout the rural and the urban belts in India. When the benefit of generic medicines has not percolated to the common people what is need for trumpeting about it ?If India is to have a sound health policy it should make treatment,surgeries etc in private hospitals and nursing homes cheaper than what it is at present. |
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