Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government proposes to bring life-saving drugs under price control regime;
(b) if so, the details of the action taken by the Government in this regard; and
(c) the arrangements made by the Government to make available life-saving drugs free of cost to the poor and helpless people in Government as well as private hospitals?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS; MINISTRY OF SHIPPING AND MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS (SHRI MANSUKH L. MANDAVIYA)
(a)&(b): The prices of drugs are controlled under the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 where drugs are referred to as per their definition in the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940. However, there is no definition of life saving drugs either in the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 or in Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013. At present, the ceiling prices of medicines of various strength/dosage forms as declared by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and included in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2015, are fixed by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).
(c): Public Health being a state subject, it is for the States/UTs to draw up such action plans as per their need. Under the National Health Mission (NHM), financial support is provided to the States/UTs for strengthening their healthcare delivery system including support for provision of free drugs to those who access public health facilities based on the requirement posed by the States/UTs in their Programme Implementation Plans. An incentive of upto 5% additional funding (over and above the normal allocation of the State) under the NHM is provided to those States that introduce free medicines scheme.
Under the NHM-Free drug service Initiative substantial funding is available to States for provision of free drugs subject to States/UTs meeting certain specific conditions. The number of free drugs provided by the States varies from State to State and most States have their own list of essential medicines.
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