New Delhi: Despite the National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority’s work on capping the prices of stents, orthopaedic implants and hundreds of medicines, the NITI Aayog has now been made in charge of a government body on drug prices.
On Monday, the department of pharmaceuticals announced a new standing committee on affordable medicines and health products.
Standing Committee on Affordable Medicines and Health Products constituted @DVSBJP @mansukhmandviya @NITIAayog @DIPPGOI @MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/v0G4xkjpOy
— Department of Pharmaceuticals (@Pharmadept) January 21, 2019
It will have Vinod Paul from the NITI Aayog as its chairman. The committee will also be housed in the NITI Aayog. It does not include the chairperson or member secretary of the NPPA.
The NITI Aayog-led body will recommend prices to the NPPA on drugs and other health products. It can also take up matters suo motu for examination, or look into matters referred to them by other departments.
The NPPA is currently an autonomous body and in the recent past has controlled the prices of drugs and devices – something even the prime minister has appreciated and credited several times.
Clamping down on the NPPA
“The direct implication is that the new committee has broad discretionary powers to intervene in any aspect including related to the functions of the NPPA which could be used to dilute the pricing regime,” says the All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN), which is fighting cases in court on making medicines more affordable.
The country’s chief economic advisor will also be on this new committee, along with two officials from the health ministry and one from the commerce ministry. They will also have one “subject expert” invited to the meetings, from the field of biomedical devices, pharmaceuticals or bio technology.
Also read: Pharma Industry Lobbying Blamed for Transfer of Pro-Patient Drug Price Regulator
Although price fixing is essentially a measure to ensure that medicines are accessible and affordable to the public, the committee will only interact with “stake holders like civil society” whenever it is “considered necessary”.
Currently, the health ministry prepares the list of drugs which can have their prices fixed by the NPPA. This list is called the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) and the NPPA then fixes the prices of drugs on this list and monitors the prices of items not on that list. The NPPA is not part of the health ministry, but is part of the department of pharmaceuticals.
Several moves have been made in the last year to dilute and even dismantle the NPPA. The department of pharmaceuticals even floated a new pharmaceutical policy which had measures in it to dilute the NPPA.
In addition, the NITI Aayog and department of pharmaceuticals have been treading in on various functions that the NPPA performs. For example, in April 2018, the NITI Aayog told the Prime Minister’s Office that the work of the NPPA should be fielded out to two committees, one for shortlisting essential medicines and another for fixing the price. This is despite the fact that such a mechanism already exists.