On Saturday, the Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) conducted a seminar on ′Affordable Drugs for All’. The seminar held in Ludhiana highlighted the urgent need to regulate the prices of drugs to make them affordable and accessible to citizens. According to the IDPD data, at present, the expenditure on drugs accounts for 67% of the total expenditure incurred on healthcare. Dr. Samir Malhotra, head of the pharmacology department at PGI-MER, Chandigarh, stated that this adds to the burden on the population because nearly 75% of healthcare is in the private sector in India. He noted that even though the out-of-pocket expenditure on healthcare has fallen as per the recent national health account estimate report released a few days back, quality healthcare is still a far-off dream for the majority of the population. 

He added that recently, the vaccine-making industry has reaped huge profits at the cost of human lives, but the matter of gross inequality in the supply of vaccines to the population in developed and underdeveloped countries is a matter of grave concern. Hence, there is an urgent need for policy change at the government level. Developing countries should utilize the clause of compulsory licensing in the WTO agreements to facilitating indigenous production of cheap drugs.

Dr. Malhotra stated that globally, India is a leading manufacturer of generic drugs, but the prices of generic drugs are showing an upward trend. Thus, the recommendations given by the IDPD committee on September 16, 2015, regarding high trade margins in the sale of drugs should be implemented to bring down drug prices to an affordable level. Dr. G. S. Grewal, former president of the Punjab Medical Council, added that the price of a drug should be calculated based on the cost of production. He added that the drug packets should always show the purchase price and MRP, thereby exhibiting the profit margin.