The 14-member draft drug policy review committee constituted by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers is planning its second meeting in Mumbai on August 30.The committee members have been asked to come out with concrete proposals on the five core issues that are being deliberated. This includes suggestions for an alternative to the current plan to include all NLEM drugs under price control.

The decision was taken during the initial meeting of the committee here last week. The committee headed by Chemicals Secretary will primarily look into the manner in which the Supreme Court Order to bring essential drugs under price control can be interpreted. It is exploring whether the legal implication of the SC order was to bring all 354 drugs on the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) under price control or price monitoring would suffix.

The committee is also mandated to suggest the role competition can play in containing drug price rise. Replacement of the existing cost based price control model for price monitoring, public-private partnership model for supply of medicines to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and concessional drug procurement by Government institutions are other points to be discussed by the committee.

The committee is represented by industry associations and trade promotion bodies like Indian Drugs Manufacturers Association (IDMA), Organisation of Pharmaceutical producers of India (OPPI), Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil), Confederation of Indian Pharmaceutical Industries (CIPI-ssi) and FICCI.