Question : List of Essential Medicines

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has included cancer and diabetes drugs as well as medicines for heart and lung ailments under the Drug Price Control Order as a part of the New List of Essential Medicines and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government is aware that due to shortage of supply, life-saving drugs are being sold at high prices in market by private pharma companies and by private hospitals;
(c) the steps taken by the Government to ensure affordability and availability of drugs for cancer, diabetes, lung and heart ailments; and
(d) the total volume and value of the cancer drugs produced and supplied within the country during the last five years and those of imported drugs and medicines from countries abroad?

(a): Medicines for Cancer, Diabetes, Heart and Lung ailments have been included in National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2015 and listed in Section 8, 12, 21.4 and 28 of Schedule - I of Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO, 2013) respectively.

(b): No, Sir. National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is not aware of any such report on drugs being sold at high price due to shortage of supply.

(c): NPPA has fixed the ceiling price of medicines included in Schedule-I of DPCO, 2013 (NLEM, 2015) relating to treatment of Cancer, diabetes, Heart and Lung ailments for making them affordable to patients, as detailed below:

S. No. Particulars No. of Formulations (Prices fixed by NPPA)
1 Anti-Cancer Medicines 81
2 Diabetes Medicine 12
3 Heart Medicines 70
4 Lung Medicines 25
(ii) The prices of non-scheduled formulation are monitored so that their MRP is not increased by more than 10% of MRP during preceding twelve months.

(iii) NPPA has also fixed prices of 106 non-scheduled Anti-diabetics and Cardiovascular medicines under paragraph 19 of Drugs Prices Control Order, 2013 in July, 2014.

(iv) NPPA has fixed ceiling price of Cardiac Stents being scheduled formulation under DPCO, 2013 affecting price reduction for Coronary Stents worked out up to 85% for Bare Metal Stents and 74% for Drug Eluting Stents. This has ensured notional saving of around Rs. 4500 crore to the patients.

(v) NPPA has put a cap on Trade Margin of 42 select non-scheduled anti-cancer medicines under ‘Trade Margin Rationalisation’ Approach in February, 2019. The MRP of 526 brands of these medicines have been reduced by upto 90% by this approach. This has ensured an approx annual savings of around Rs. 984 crore to the patients.

The availability of scheduled medicines is regularly monitored by the NPPA. Whenever shortage is reported by the State Drug Controllers or when the matter comes to the notice of NPPA through references received from Ministry of Health or NGOs or through individual complaints or through Pharma Jan Samadhan portal of NPPA, remedial steps are immediately taken for ensuring availability of drugs by impressing upon concerned companies to rush the stocks to the places of shortage.

(d): As per available data from various port offices of Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), the total volume and value of the cancer drugs with quantum and value of imported drugs are attached as Annexure.