Taking about ten years to finalise a policy for any industry is unheard of in a progressive democratic state. And that is happening to a sector which is producing life saving drugs for increasing number of sick people in the country. The UPA government has deplorably failed to bring about the new pharmaceutical policy all these years knowing fully well that such prolonged inaction on its part can hurt several millions of poor people in the country. There is, therefore, every reason to suspect a motive behind such inaction as it directly helps the pharmaceutical industry to make excessive profits on most medicines. It is well known that only 74 drugs are under price control now as per the DPCO,1995 and more than half of them are not being manufactured by the pharma companies any more. At the same time nearly 500 new drugs have been approved for marketing in the country by the DCGI after the notification of DPCO in 1995. All these drugs are outside price control and many of them are under patent. The patent protection and absence of price control on most drugs have been immensely helping the pharmaceutical companies, especially MNCs, to sell them at very high prices with prescription support from medical practitioners. There has been no serious attempt by the chemicals ministry so far to include any of them under DPCO. And the non functioning of the new minister who took charge of the chemicals ministry in the second term of the UPA government has only worsened the state of affairs.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals has already expressed its helplessness in this matter as the draft National Pharmaceutical Policy 2006 is before the Group of Ministers headed by Sharad Pawar, Union Agriculture minister. The GoM was first constituted to review and finalize the policy draft in 2007 and it held four meetings during 2007 and 2008 but no decision could be arrived at on the draft. The GoM was then reconstituted last year after UPA government assumed its second term. No meeting of GoM was called by Sharad Pawar after the reconstitution. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals & Fertilizers in a recent observation has conveyed its 'deep anguish' over the inordinate delay in the finalisation of the policy considering the fact that the work on framing the new policy started as early as 2000. The Committee felt that life saving drugs have not been defined or specified in the DPCO, 1995 and therefore there is no effective monitoring of either their availability or prices by the NPPA. It has asked the government for finalization of the policy at the earliest. A recent CII sponsored study has also pointed out that DPCO in its present form is ineffective as it is inadequate in its coverage. Therefore, there is an urgent need to rectify the existing criteria for price control. In view of this continuing uncertainty and confusion in the policy making process, Prime minister's active intervention can only break the deadlock and bring out the new pharmaceutical policy.