As the industry is worried over a large number of medicines and pharmaceuticals products coming under price control in India, sources at state drug control administration said that the losses incurred by the domestic industry due to Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) can be offset by re-investing the revenues earned by exports of pharma products by the industry.
According to Raja Bhanu, deputy drug controller and organising secretary of 66th IPC, majority of Indian companies are heavily relying on exports and their domestic earnings are less in comparison to their exports revenues. “As it is the responsibility of the government and the regulators to ensure that the poor and the common men in the country get access to affordable medicines and healthcare facilities, in my opinion, the industry as well as the government can re-invest the export revenues in the domestic sector to comply with the price control,” said Raja Bhanu.
As per statistics from World Health Organisation (WHO) only about 35 per cent of Indian population can afford their healthcare costs while 65 per cent of population in India has no proper access to quality healthcare. Majority of the population is burdened with healthcare costs, as the healthcare spending by the government is far less than compared to the western world.
There is no point in always focussing on exports and neglecting the healthcare of the Indian population. The government and the regulators along with the industry have the responsibility to make drugs affordable to the poor. Out of more than Rs.1.40 lakh crore of turnover pharma industry earns, a major part comes from exports. Therefore it is important for the industry to acknowledge their responsibility and contribute their share in uplifting the healthcare of the country, says Ravi Uday Bhaskar, secretary general of AIDCOC.
By 2015, majority of blockbuster drugs in the international markets will come off patent. This is the time when the industry needs to get prepared to grab that opportunity and lead the world in giving affordable drugs to the diseased. “The Indian players are masters in making generic versions of the branded drugs, and they need to invest their earnings from exports in making the future generics and venture in to the unexplored areas by investing in research. At the same time the government is also doing its part by encouraging the industry by offering tax exemptions and supporting the industry to take up research activities,” opined Raja Bhanu in an exclusive interaction.