Valluri Vaishnavi, Amrish Chandra
ABSTRACT
Objective: In 2018, the Indian government proposed to launch a national health-care pricing reform with purpose of improving the quality and health-care expenditure. The objective of this study is to describe the mercurial drug pricing policy of India.
Methods: The author conducted a thorough research on the drug pricing pattern using Indian health authority websites, pharmaceutical websites and blogs, press releases, and discussion forums.
Results: A systemic design and clear regulations must be set up with adequate policies. Drug prices must be carefully regulated by the government to increase access to the poor citizens.
Conclusion: Price regulations have a long history in India, China and Canada. They are used to increase affordability, accessibility and quality of the medicine. However, with increasing need many reforms have been made over the past decade. There should be a proper balance between price ceiling and local condition for better access of the medicine. The government regulations must evolve over the time.
Key words: Co-payment, Formulary, Line extension, Patent act, Price freezes, Re-imbursement, Tendering system