According to the latest announcement from the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the prices of essential medicines will see a slight increase from today i.e. April 1.
How Did This Happen?
The news holds a great significance as this change will be applicable to the medicines including antibiotics, painkillers and more.
The change will amount to 0.0055 per cent for medicines under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) in line with the annual change in the wholesale price index (WPI), as per the NPPA announcement.
Further, NPPA said,”Based on the WPI data provided by the office of the Economic Advisor, Department of Industry and Internal trade Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the annual change in WPI works out as (+) 0.00551% during the calendar year 2023 over the corresponding period in 2022.”
How Does this Help?
The news of this price hike comes after medicine prices hiked by 12 percent last year and 10 percent in 2022.
Moving ahead, the new prices will affect more than 800 drugs on the list, including the popular drugs like paracetamol, azithromycin, vitamins, minerals, some drugs to combat COVID-19, and steroids are on the list.
The update appears to be a part of the process every year where the National Pharma Pricing Authority (NPPA) announces a calculated ceiling of prices based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) of the previous calendar year
This also limits the percentage hike which drug companies can take on their portfolio under NLEM starting April.
The notification from the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) stated, “Based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data provided by the office of the Economic Advisor, Department of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the annual change in WPI works out as (+)0.00551% during the calendar year 2023 over the corresponding period in 2022.”
When we refer to the essential medicines, they are those that satisfy the priority healthcare needs of a majority of the population.
Please note here that the essential medicines list needs to be country specific as they address the disease burden of the nation.
This also includes the commonly used medicines at primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare levels.
When it comes to the medicines in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM),they should be available at affordable costs and with assured quality.
The NPPA comes into picture as it regularly updates and maintains the list of products under NLEM.
