KOCHI: The government's move to withdraw customs duty exemption on imports of 76 life-saving drugs will have adverse impact on the cancer and HIV patients. Drugs used for bacterial infections, leukaemia, anaesthetic medication, hepatitis B and allergies will also see a spurt in prices.
Though a clear picture of the extent of price rise is yet to come, the average escalation in drug prices will be more than 50 per cent, according to All-Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association.
As the prevalence of cancer is increasing in the state, even slight increase in the drug prices will badly hit a large number of patients. “The average price rise will be 50 per cent for imported life-saving drugs. Though most of the drugs used for critical diseases are available in the domestic market, there is a huge gap in supply – demand. Moreover, majority of doctors prescribe the imported medicines as they get more benefits. The lack of confidence of patients in domestic drugs is another problem,” said Mr P.V. Tomy, executive member of
All-Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association, Ernakulam district committee.
Some of the Indian manufacturers of oncology drugs are the number one in the world. “A Hyderabad-based company, which produces world class oncology medicines, exports more than 80 per cent of its drugs,” he said.
Welcoming the move, Dr. K. Chitrathara, gynaecology oncologist of Lakeshore Hospital, said that it would help domestic drug manufacturers: “Variants of most of the imported drugs are being manufactured by domestic companies with the same quality at a very cheap rate. If switched to domestic variety, the price rise of imported drugs will not have much impact.”
Dr. Arun R. Warrier, consultant, medical oncology at Aster Medcity said that the domestic version of some of the refined drugs was not available. “Domestic manufacturers make xerox copies of the original drugs produced by foreign companies. The Indian companies are yet to be successful in developing some of the advanced cancer drugs used for prolongation of life and palliation,” he said.
