Prices for essential drugs and life-saving medications will rise by 12.12% beginning April 1. However, according to a survey, consumers are already feeling the pinch as drug prices, particularly for diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, and cancer, have risen by 20% in the last year. According to the survey, six out of ten consumers have seen a 20% increase in medicine prices in the last year, and another 12% increase on April 1 will be devastating. LocalCircles, India’s leading community social media platform, polled 34,000 consumers across 323 districts and discovered that 56% of respondents believed the MRP of commonly used medicines had increased. It also revealed that the majority of consumers want the central government to set trade margins on pharmaceuticals between 50 and 100 percent. The Centre has permitted drug manufacturers to raise the ceiling prices of approximately 900 scheduled drugs beginning April 1 in accordance with changes in the annual wholesale price index (WPI).
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) announced on March 27 that the Centre’s notified annual change in WPI in 2022 is 12.12 percent. Pain relievers, antibiotics, anti-infectives, and cardiac medications are among the medications whose prices will rise beginning Saturday. Scheduled drugs, such as pain relievers, anti-infectives, cardiac medications, and antibiotics, are included on the national list of essential medicines. Their prices are regulated by the NPPA. The rest, non-scheduled drugs not subject to price control, are allowed a 10% annual increase.
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