Prices of 11 essential medicines to increase, NPPA said – approval given to ensure availability

New Delhi| The National Drug Pricing Authority (NPPA) has approved a 50 percent increase in the prices of eleven scheduled compounds of eight drugs. According to NPPA, the move is aimed at ensuring continuous availability of medicines for public health needs.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the decision was made during the meeting of the Authority on 8 October, using the extraordinary powers granted under para 19 of the Drugs (Price Control) Order, 2013. The move aims to maintain the financial viability of manufacturing these medicines without compromising the mandate of providing affordable medicines. The first objective of NPPA is to ensure that essential medicines are available at reasonable prices.

However, drug manufacturers had demanded price revision due to rising cost of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), increase in production expenses and fluctuations in exchange rates. The drugs whose price increases have been approved include those that play a key role in the treatment of conditions such as asthma, glaucoma, thalassemia, tuberculosis and mental health disorders. These drugs are often used as first-line treatments in public health programs, and value adjustments are intended to prevent shortages or unavailability of drugs due to production challenges.

It is important to ensure availability of these medicines to provide effective healthcare in the country. The list of medicines affected by the price increase includes benzyl penicillin 1 million IU injection, atropine injection 0.6 mg/ml, streptomycin powder for injection (750 mg and 1000 mg) salbutamol tablets (2 mg and 4 mg) and respirator solution (5 mg/ml), pilocarpine 2 per cent drops, cefadroxil tablet 500 mg, desferrioxamine 500 mg and lithium tablet 300 mg for injection. Such steps were taken in 2019 and 2021. The prices of 21 and 9 types of drugs, respectively, were then increased by 50 per cent.