E-DRUG: Plea to regulate medicine prices
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Hello E-druggers
The following article was published in The Hindu newspaper from Chennai. India.
It clearly exposes the widening gap in the medicine prices supplied through the Government hospitals and those in the private sector and also the drugs sold through the drug stores in India.
The Governments should take stern action in narrowing this widening gap of Essential and commonly prescribed medicines as well as the life saving drugs so that the majority of the people in the country have access to affordable quality medicines, which will have far reaching social and economic benefits.
regards
Dr.S.Gopalakrishnan.MD, DPH
India
drsgopal56@yahoo.co.in
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[Copied as fair use; WB]
Plea to regulate medicine prices
Staff Reporter. The Hindu. Dated: 15-10-07. Chennai
Ten tablets of folic acid, a prescribed supplement for pregnant women, cost between Rs. 19 and Rs. 30 in the open market in the State. The same number is procured by the Tamil Nadu Medical Supply Corporation at Rs. 0.59.
The difference in prices between tender rates and over the counter sales does not merely reflect the difference between wholesale and retail prices they reflect the lack of price control and the enormous profit margins of pharmaceutical companies, representatives of Centre for Consumer Education, Research and Training (CONCERT), said here on Friday.
For instance, the cost of drugs for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis is equivalent to the daily wages of 737 days for a labourer in the country. The cost of drugs for coronary heart disease would equal wages for 209 days.
Lack of price control
Much of the disconnect between pricing of medicines and average income was due to lack of price control, they said. Pharmaceutical major Novartis markets Glivec, medication for treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia, in the country. The cost of treatment for a month with the drug costs Rs. 1.2 lakh as compared to Rs. 8,000 with Indian drugs.
The actual cost of production is less than Rs. 1,000, CONCERT members said. Similarly, the cost of medication for Rheumatoid Arthritis marketed by Aventis under the name Arava costs Rs. 1,320 for 10 mg, while those marketed by Ranbaxy, Torrent and Cipla cost about Rs. 80.
The Trust has urged the government to enforce price regulation on all essential drugs, weed out harmful and useless drugs, keep a restricted list of drugs, pool procurement of drugs in all States, control promotional activities of drug companies, provide universal health insurance, increase the health budget and change medical education and public health policy.