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The Government should develop a two-tier drug pricing policy whereby state-owned hospitals would be given medicines at discounted rates, according to Mr Kewal Handa, Managing Director, Pfizer India.
He said that instead of focusing only on controlling prices of drugs the Government should at making the entire gamut of healthcare services affordable to the masses.
“The proposed drug pricing policy only makes drugs affordable to those who can afford. The focus of the Government should be to ensure that healthcare services are made affordable to the masses.
“There should be two-tier pricing policy wherein patients in Government hospitals can be given discounted rates. The Government can also set up a fund to subsidise drugs. If there can be subsidy for food then medicines should also get support,” Mr Handa said at an Assocham event.
Price control
The Pfizer chief added that the proposed policy to bring 348 drugs under price control is acceptable but it should not be expanded to include combination of the drugs. “Imported products should be exempted and treated under a different pricing scheme. There should also be a maximum limit set for trade commission,” he said.
The draft National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Policy (NPPP 2011) has listed out 348 drugs in National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) to be brought under price control. Virtually 75 per cent of the industry will come under price control in case the NPPP is pursued in its present form.
“It will cripple the pharmaceuticals industry, deny healthcare to the masses at affordable prices, discourage foreign investments and threaten export prospects,” said Mr Handa.
Indian companies have not been investing in research and development due to thin profit margins – in the range of 10 to 12 per cent. Not a single molecule has been patented. The Asscoham President-elect, Mr R.N. Dhoot, emphasised the need for a parallel policy and a mechanism to provide healthcare access to the common man.
“All these measure are being taken though the inflation in pharma industry has been only one per cent as against double digits in all sectors, including the food industry. Instead of taking such stringent measures which will hit the sector's growth, the government should rather remove excise duty and value added tax,” said Mr Dhoot.
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