Soon after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the increase in the price of essential medicines, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandavya gave an explanation on the matter. The minister retorted that the pharma companies decide the increase in drug prices based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and the prices of essential drugs are decided according to the Drug Price Control Orders (DPCO) of 2013, which came into force during the UPA regime.
“Dear Kharge Jee, I would like to humbly state some facts regarding the allegations made by you regarding the cost of medicines. Every year pharma companies raise or lower the prices of drugs as per the Drug Price Control Order brought by the UPA government in 2013”, tweeted Mansukh Mandavya.
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The minister added that the government has revised the list and prices of essential medicines in November 2022. “As per DPCO 2013, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has initiated steps to revise the prices of notified drugs. Revised prices of 651 out of 870 essential medicines have already been notified”, the minister said.
He added that the Jan Aushadhi campaign under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very beneficial for the people. The health minister stated that the pharma companies are allowed to increase the price of medicines up to 12.12 percent according to the wholesale price index and the government is implementing campaigns like Jan Aushadhi to prevent it from going above that.
On Sunday, Mallikarjun Kharge came out against the Prime Minister by questioning the increase in the prices of essential medicines. The Congress president’s reaction came after the price of 384 essential medicines and more than a thousand other medicines increased by 12 percent from April 1. Consumers say that drug prices have already increased by 20 percent over last year. Apart from this, the new increase is
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Global developments, including the Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, have disrupted the supply of raw materials and pharmaceutical ingredients for essential medicines and have also contributed to price hikes. Although the supply chain and logistics situation has improved, the rising cost of raw materials is a concern for the pharmaceutical sector. Many consumers say they are paying more for general medicines for fever, cough, headache, eye drops and vitamins. Not only allopathic medicines, but also Ayurvedic medicine and homeopathy.