The Hindu Business Line : Drug policy: Govt to hear views again

New Delhi April 10 The Group of Ministers (GoM) on National Pharmaceuticals Policy on Tuesday decided to repeat the exercise of listening to the views of all stakeholders before deciding on the issue of price control for essential drugs.

The GoM headed by the Minister for Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, Mr Sharad Pawar, would now invite pharmaceutical companies and non-governmental organisations working in the area of health to present their case.

The draft presented by the Ministry of Chemicals and Petrochemicals (MoCP) was prepared after more than two years of consultations with the various stakeholders, and in the absence of a consensus the draft was sent to the Cabinet, which had referred it to the GoM.

The views of the Ministries concerned, including the Ministry of Health, Finance and Law, were also taken into consideration while preparing the draft.

After the meeting, Mr Pawar told presspersons that "the meeting was inconclusive. We would again meet, sometime during the parliamentary session."

"We will give the pharma industry an opportunity to represent their case. We are also considering inviting some NGOs for a presentation of their concerns," Mr Pawar said.

According to indications available from official sources, the next meeting would be convened only after the crucial elections in Uttar Pradesh end in the second week of May.

Commenting on the proceedings, the Minister for Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, said "the time was insufficient to complete all the presentations. For the next meeting we have said that it would need a few hours."

On apprehensions that efforts to rein in the pharmaceutical companies could lead to shortages in the market, Mr Paswan said that "when Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) consisted of 74 drugs, they together covered about 50 per cent of the market. The 354 drugs we are talking today together cover only 20 per cent of the market."