NPPA (National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority) has increased the ceiling prices of 8 major medicines by 50 percent. These medicines are mainly used in the treatment of diseases like asthma, glaucoma, thalassemia, TB and mental health. The government said in a statement that this decision was taken during a meeting held on October 8, in which a 50 percent increase in the maximum prices of 11 formulations of 8 medicines was approved.

These names are included in the list of medicines which are going to become expensive

While approving the price hike, it was said that most of these medicines are low-cost and are used as first-line treatments essential for the country's public health programmes. The formulations for which the maximum prices have been increased include Benzyl Penicillin IU injection and Atropine injection 06.mg/ml; Streptomycin powder for injection 750 mg and 1000 mg; Salbutamol tablets 2 mg and 4 mg; respirator solution 5 mg/ml; Pilocarpine 2% drops; Cefadroxil tablets 500 mg; Desferrioxamine for injection 500 mg; and Lithium tablets 300 mg.

Pharmaceutical companies were demanding to increase the price

NPPA was receiving applications from the companies manufacturing these medicines demanding a price hike. In these applications, the companies have cited various reasons such as rising cost of drug ingredients, rising production costs and changes in exchange rates. Due to these reasons, concerns have increased about the stability of production and marketing of medicines. Let us tell you that NPPA had allowed a 50% increase in the prices of 21 formulations in 2019 and 9 in 2021.

Companies were incurring losses due to low prices

The maximum prices of these medicines were so low that the companies manufacturing and marketing them were incurring losses. As a result, some companies stopped marketing these medicines and some companies requested NPPA to stop their marketing. However, these are very basic medicines, the supply of which was also affected, due to which patients and doctors also faced a lot of problems.