National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has called upon the industry; trade and consumer organizations' to comment on the findings of a study conducted by New Delhi based Voluntary Organisation in Interest of Consumer Education (VOICE) on the availability and prices of medicines in India. The study, commissioned by NPPA two years ago, had revealed that the awareness of the role of NPPA is almost non-existent among the patients and doctors of the country.

The lack of infrastructure and presence of spurious drugs were also found to be serious issues that hamper proper dispensation of medicines to the customers. The NPPA intends to organize a national seminar to chalk out implementation programmes based on the feedback it receives from the concerned sections of the industry, trade and society in general.

The study has stressed the need to enhance the visibility of NPPA and to launch a national campaign to educate civil society about NPPA's role in protecting the interests of the consumer and also the pharmaceutical industry, in order to make essential medicines available at affordable prices. VOICE findings suggest that NPPA has responsible role not only to regulate market conditions and practices as per the existing laws but also to bring about the necessary changes in an appropriate manner in consultation.

The study has identified lack of infrastructure as a serious problem in proper dispensation of medicines to the customers, as 30 per cent of chemists in UP still do not invest in mandatory requirements like refrigeration facilities. Interestingly, about 4 per cent of patients consulted had said that the drugs are sold at more than the maximum retail price (MRP) but as high as 24 per cent of chemists admitted that they overcharge due to various market conditions. They are also aware about the price differences in some medicines of the same brand in the same town, the study says. The study also points towards the sale of drugs without proper prescription. More than 60 per cent of the patients consult chemists rather the doctors to decide as to which medicine(s) to buy.

The study has recommended for benchmarking service standards of healthcare and monitoring it regularly by ensuring accountability of the existing system to provide minimum standards defined by NPPA in consultation with other service providers. It also recommends that availability and accessibility of medicines should be a priority item in the government's agenda and it should not be looked at simply the business proposition for investment by the private sector. Need to standardize the prices of medicine by incorporating the applicable sales tax in the printed label to display the total price to be charged to the customers, instead of the existing practice of charging taxes as extra on the agreed printed Maximum Retail Price (MRP) was also highlighted.

The study also recommends attracting investment from the private sector on developing quality infrastructure facilities like cold chain, testing facilities for the medicine, training of various levels dealing with medicine distribution and prescription dissemination and similar activities.

The study was commissioned by NPPA in order to have a proper assessment on the field position of the availability and prices of medicines in rural India. The study, conducted in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka revealed that awareness about the role of NPPA is non-existent, as 98.5 per cent of the surveyed patients are not aware about NPPA. The incidence of such unawareness among the chemists and doctors are also as high as 76 per cent and 64 per cent respectively.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has been established in August 1997 under the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers as an expert body on pricing of medicines. Its responsibilities include monitoring the availability of medicines in the country and to fix/revise the prices of medicines falling under the "Price Controlled" category. The manufacturers of medicines are required to sell the price-controlled drugs at the prices fixed/revised by NPPA. It is estimated that there are about 60,000 medicines sold by over 2,30,000 retail chemists in trade channel. NPPA does not have its own field force for enforcing of Drugs (Price Control) Order under which the price of controlled medicines is fixed.

It was in this background, NPPA thought it worthwhile to assess the field position by assigning a study to a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) two years ago.