The Hindu Business Line : No plan yet to bring down AIDS drug prices

AS the world debates the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic at the ongoing 15th International AIDS Conference, the Indian Government has not yet been able to arrive at a formula that will bring down the prices of anti-retrovirals (ARV) or anti-AIDS drugs used to combat this disease.

India, with 5.1 million patients, is just a breath away from South Africa, which has the world's largest number of HIV positive persons.

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), which is spearheading the Government's AIDS initiative, has approached the Ministry of Finance to bring down the excise duty and other State-level taxes levied on raw materials used to manufacture the bulk drugs for AIDS treatment.

According to Ms Meenakshi Dutta Ghosh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Project Director, NACO, "The Finance Ministry is of the view that there could be multiple end-uses for the raw materials used to manufacture ARVs. Hence, exemption from excise duty is not a viable proposition.

"However, our dialogue with officials of the Revenue Department continues and we hope to come up with a solution that will bring down the drug prices."

Industry analysts said that the raw materials for ARVs could have end-uses in not only the pharma industry but in other non-related sectors as well. "The raw materials could be used in drugs to treat various diseases related to the immune system, toxicology or even aches and nausea. Therefore, a blanket tax waiver may not be possible," they added.

Currently bulk drugs for ARVs are exempt from excise duty and hence will not be subjected to the 2 per cent cess for education. However, corporates forking out corporation tax and raw material manufacturers, who pay excise duty, will have to pay the cess. But industry officials feel that the chances of ARV prices going up are "remote".

The issue of pricing of anti-AIDS drugs has been a contentious one. While Thailand has been able to bring down the monthly treatment bill to $30 from $500-750, the Clinton Foundation had last year inked a deal with Indian drug companies such as Ranbaxy, Cipla, Matrix and Hetero to supply ARVs to African countries at $140 or Rs 6,500 per patient per annum. This brought down the cost to 38 cents per day per patient, lower than the Thai Government's $1 pill. For India a price lowering deal similar to the African one is still being worked out.

In the Budget last week Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) reiterated its commitment to combat HIV/AIDS with a budgetary allocation of Rs 259 crore for prevention and control of spread of the disease.

Mr Sundeep Juneja, Head of ARVs, Ranbaxy Laboratories said that this allocation along with contributions from the Global Fund and other agencies will help the HIV/AIDS prevention programme in India.

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