A bad move by
Finance Ministry
Withdrawal of
the customs duty exemptions for 76 life-saving drugs by Finance Ministry will
at once make them more expensive and impact patients who are already paying a
high price for such medical treatment. A majority of
Indians meet health care costs through out-of-pocket expenditure, and any
increase is bound to adversely affect them. It is not clear what “public interest” is served by removing certain
essential medicines that are either not manufactured in India or whose demand
currently exceeds local manufacturing capacity.
It is not known
as to why a patient ends up buying imported drugs even when locally
manufactured options are available at a lower price. It is for this reason that
the withdrawal of 22 per cent customs duty exemption on imported drugs could
have an impact on a patient’s budget; imported active pharmaceutical
ingredients (APIs) will also increase the cost of generics made locally.
The only way
for the Indian drug industry to grow is by investing in research and
development and in producing novel drugs that enjoy patent protection.
Time and again
there have been increase in the prices of medicines under the pretext of
revisions in the taxation system. Now for the withdrawal of import duty may
debar the affordability and would definitely lead to higher cost of treatment. Our
politicians have access to treatment overseas but what about the common man?
It is the duty
of the Government to make available the life-saving drugs to the Indian
population from Indian Manufacturers and make them available at affordable cost
if imported from other countries. The move to withdraw custom duty exemption on
these drugs will shake the trust of common man from the present government that
promised Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas.
There can be no
disagreement that the health sector has always taken a backseat in Indian policy
making despite the rising cost of medical treatment which is borne by most of
the Indians from their own pocket. There is a constant demand for raising the
budgetary provision for the health sector and facilitation of availability of
medicines and drugs to growing number of patients. It is high time the
government comes out with funding of research and development in the
pharmaceutical industry so that country has its own patent for important drugs.
Better late than never but all out support is needed for this important sector
providing health care to growing masses.
While it is
necessary to make life saving drugs available to the common people at
affordable prices, it is also necessary to curb the production of items which
are injurious to health and which promote cancer. Why should we not ban
altogether production of cigarettes and tobacco based industries which are not
contributing anything to the human safety and treatment of cancer affected
persons?
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