MUMBAI: The government on Monday constituted a standing
committee headed by Niti Aayog to oversee the drug pricing regime, a move which
could clip the powers of drug pricing regulator, National Pharmaceutical
Pricing Authority (NPPA). The Standing Committee on Affordable Medicines and
Health Products will be headed by NITI Aayog member (health), and includes
chief economic adviser, besides secretary department of health research,
director general of health services, vice-chairperson, National List of
Essential Medicines (NLEM) and joint secretary department of industrial policy
and promotion. The notification issued on Monday says the committee will be
"a recommending body to NPPA, regarding prices of drugs and health
products'', and may examine issues suo-moto or on recommendation of department
of pharma, NPPA and department of health. The development comes in the backdrop
of recent run-ins between the health and pharma ministries over regulating
prices, but now the power centre could be shifting to the policy thinktank.
Sources said the proposal has been in the works for nearly a year, and was
first discussed in April between Niti Aayog and PMO, with the objective of
amending the Drug Price Control Order, 2013. Health activists feel the
committee has been vested with sweeping powers to oversee the pricing regime,
at the cost of undermining NPPA, and this may have repercussions on
affordability of drugs.
Source:THE TIMES OF INDIA-22nd January,2019
