Order To Reduce Anti-Cancer Drugs Prices:
The central government has ordered to reduce the prices of drugs before Diwali, giving relief to cancer patients. Drugs used for the treatment of breast cancer and lung cancer will now be cheaper.
The government has ordered pharma companies to pass on the benefit of the removed customs duty and reduction in GST on cancer drugs to the consumers. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has issued an office memorandum and directed to reduce the prices of three main antibiotics Trastuzumab, Osimertinib, and Durvalumab used for the treatment of breast cancer and lung cancer.
Customs duty was removed from the budget
The central government had exempted these three cancer drugs from customs duty in 2024-25 itself. The Finance Ministry issued a notification on July 23 announcing that the customs duty on three medicines has been reduced from 10 percent to zero. The direct benefit of this needs to be passed on to the consumers by reducing the MRP of the medicine.
New prices implemented from October 10
The government had reduced the GST rate on these medicines from 12 percent to 5 percent. Due to this, pharma companies were asked to reduce the prices of these cancer medicines and implement the new prices from October 10. The manufacturers were also directed to reduce the MRP and inform the dealers, state medicine controllers, and the government about the change in prices.
According to the Lancet report, the number of cancer patients in India has increased to more than 14 lakh. Which is increasing every year. In 2020, 13.9 lakh cancer cases were reported, 14.2 lakh in 2021, and 14.6 lakh in 2022.
Tags: cancer-treatment, Anti-Cancer-Drugs
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