Government’s big decision, these 3 essential medicines will be cheaper

New Delhi: The government controls the prices of medicines so that people can get essential medicines at cheap prices in the country. Now the government has given a big relief to cancer patients just before Diwali. Due to this, the MRP of 3 major medicines used in the treatment of cancer is going to be reduced. The government has also given orders for this.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) does the work of controlling the prices of essential medicines in the country. Now NPPA has directed to reduce the MRP (Maximum Retail Price) of 3 medicines used in the treatment of cancer, Trastuzumab, Osimertinib and Durvalumab. Out of these, Trastuzumab is used in the treatment of breast cancer, while Osimertinib is used in the treatment of lung cancer and Durvalumab is used in the treatment of both types of cancer.

While reducing the prices of these cancer drugs, the government has said that it is its commitment to ensure that common people get essential medicines at low prices. Therefore, NPPA has given instructions to reduce the maximum price of medicines. Recently, the GST rate on these medicines has been reduced, while in the Union Budget 2024-25, it was also announced to abolish the custom duty on these medicines.

Therefore, the government says that the effect of reduction in taxes should also be visible on the price of medicines. Therefore, now the government has ordered to reduce their MRP. The Revenue Department of the Finance Ministry had issued a notification on July 23 this year, reducing the customs duty on all three medicines to zero.

The government has recently reduced the GST rate on these medicines from 12 percent to 5 percent. Therefore, companies had to reduce its MRP from October 10, 2024 itself, as its new MRP will be considered applicable from that day. Manufacturers have also been instructed to reduce the MRP and inform the dealers, state drug controllers and the government about the price change. According to a study by Lancet, the number of cancer patients in India has exceeded 14 lakhs. There is a trend of increase in this every year. In the year 2020, it was 13.9 lakhs, which increased to 14.2 lakhs in 2021, while in 2022 their number reached 14.6 lakhs.