Achi news desk-
A symbolic image.
– Photo: Amar Ojala
expansion
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare defined the reports in the media, in which the prices of some essential medicines increased by 12 percent from April 2024, as false and misleading. These reports claimed that more than 500 drugs would be affected by this price increase. The wholesale price index is said to be the basis for this increase. The Ministry of Health says that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) annually changes the maximum prices of reported drugs based on the wholesale price index.
A slight increase of one penny
The Ministry of Health published an announcement that the wholesale price index increased by 0.00551 percent. On this basis, there will be no change in the prevailing maximum prices for 782 drugs, while there will be a marginal increase of one paisa for 54 drugs. According to the provisions of the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013, drugs are divided into scheduled and non-scheduled preparations. The formulations listed in Schedule-I of DPCO 2013 are scheduled formulations and the formulations not listed in Schedule-I of DPCO 2013 are unscheduled formulations.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) under the Department of Pharmaceuticals annually changes the maximum prices of fixed drugs based on the wholesale price index. Schedule drugs included in Schedule-1 of DPCO, 2013 fall under the category of essential drugs. According to the data published by DPIIT, the annual increase in the wholesale index during 2023 was 0.00551 percent. Following this, the authority approved at its meeting held on 03.20.2024 an increase of 0.00551% in the wholesale index for scheduled drugs.
