Prices of 800 essential medicines set to rise from April 1

In another blow to common man, essential, life-saving medicines are yet to get costlier from April 1. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority of India had earlier announced a 10.7 per cent hike in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for the calendar year 2021 over the corresponding period in 2020.

With this hike, the cost of about 800 scheduled medicines on the National List of Essential Medicines will increase by 10.7 per cent since the beginning of the next financial year.

Which medicines are likely to witness price hike?

As per NPPA’s order, the price of medicines that are used to treat fever, heart diseases, infections, skin diseases, high blood pressure and anaemia will be increased from April 1. These include medicines like Paracetamol, Phenobarbitone, Phenytoin Sodium, Azithromycin, Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride and Metronidazole.

The NPPA fixes the ceiling price of scheduled medicines, which are procured by the government for various health programmes and provided free of cost at government hospitals, as per provisions of the DPCO.

In the parliament this week, the government said that NPPA has fixed the ceiling prices of 886 scheduled formulations and four scheduled medical devices and fixed retail prices of 1,817 new drugs.