The national drug pricing body recently announced an annual change of 10.76 per cent in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for over 800 scheduled drugs and medical devices. These include some of the most common drugs such as paracetamol, azithromycin and contraceptives
Image used for representational purposes. PTI
The next time you go to a chemist and buy Crocin, you are going to pay much more.
This is because the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has announced a hike in prices of over 800 essential drugs from 1 April. Last Friday, India’s drug pricing authority allowed a price hike of 10.7 per cent for scheduled drugs, which are under price control.
Here’s everything you need to know about the price rise and its corresponding effects on medicines.
Bitter pill of hiked prices
In an order dated 25 March, the NPPA said: “Based on the Wholesale Price Index data provided by the Office of the Economic Advisor, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the annual change in the WPI works out as 10.76607 per cent during the calendar year 2021 over the corresponding period of 2020.”
The hike in prices will affect over 800 medicines, many of which are used to treat fever, infections, heart diseases, high blood pressure, skin diseases and anaemia will increase. This includes drugs like Paracetamol, Phenobarbitone, Phenytoin Sodium, Azithromycin, Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride and Metronidazole.
The hike will also be applicable to contraceptives like copper IUDs, condoms, insulin injections, Vitamin C tablets, and multivitamin tablets.
A report published by the Deccan Herald reported that people suffering from diabetes, heart ailments and chronic conditions will suffer the price rise the most.
Harish Jain, president, Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association, was quoted as telling Deccan Herald that long-term consumers like cardiac and cancer patients are likely to be affected the most.
A Money Control report stated that this is the steepest hike in the prices of medicines under the Drug (Price Control) Order, 2013, allowed by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority.
Why the price rise
The price rise is in line with wholesale inflation since January last year.
Rajeev Singhal, general secretary of the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists, speaking to Money Control explained, “The rates of raw material and production cost for medicines has gone up steeply over the last year and the hikes being allowed was overdue.”
Other than raw material and production costs, the COVID-19 pandemic had also caused a steep rise in freight and transportation charges.
Another industry insider speaking to Times of India said that India’s dependence on China for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is around 80-90 per cent. “When the pandemic surged in China in 2020, there were wide-scale supply disruptions and shortages leading to higher costs for domestic companies.”
A rise like no other
Prices of drugs keep changing. Last year, the increase was only 0.53 per cent, while in 2020 it was 1.88 per cent.
In 2019 it was 4.26 per cent whereas in 2018, there was a 3.43 per cent hike.
Netas react
The price rise has been a bitter pill to swallow for some of the politicians who have raised their voice.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at the Centre over the increase in the prices of the medicines.
Speaking in Siliguri last Sunday, she had said, “The prices of 800 essential medicines have been hiked. But all political leaders remain mum.”
Karnataka’s Congress leader and former chief minister K Siddaramaiah also lashed out at the Centre over the price rise, saying the Centre had launched ‘another surgical strike aiming at common man’.
He said the prime minister had misinterpreted the saying ‘Health is Wealth’ and that the nation needed the medicine to fight against crony capitalism.
With inputs from agencies
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