Drugs for Cancer and antibiotics to become cheaper

By Our Special Correspondent

Many anti-cancer drugs, antibiotics and vaccines are now more affordable as they are among 34 new additions to the National Essential Medicines List, which the government says will reduce "patients' out-of-pocket costs".

Anti-infectives such as Ivermectin, Mupirocin and Meropenem are also included in the list, taking the total number of drugs under it to 384. Four major anticancer drugs -- Bendamustine Hydrochloride, Irinotecan HCI Trihydrate, Lenalidomide and Leuprolide Acetate are effective in varying degrees. Cancer types -- and psychotherapeutic drugs -- nicotine replacement therapy and buprenorphine -- have been added to the list.

However, 26 drugs like ranitidine, sucralfate, white petrolatum, atenolol and methyldopa have been removed from the earlier list. The elimination was based on the parameters of cost effectiveness and availability of better drugs.

After launching the list on Tuesday, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted, "Released National List of Essential Medicines 2022. It includes 384 medicines in 27 categories.

Many antibiotics, vaccines, anti-cancer drugs and many other essential medicines are more affordable and reduce patients' out-of-pocket costs."

Speaking on this occasion, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Ministry is taking many steps towards 'Sabko Davai, Sasti Davai'. "In this direction, the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) plays an important role in ensuring access to affordable quality medicines at all levels of healthcare.

This will encourage cost-effective, quality medicines and contribute to reducing out-of-pocket expenditure on healthcare for citizens,” he said.

The primary purpose of NLEM is to promote rational use of medicines considering three important factors -- cost, safety and efficacy, Mandavya said. He said the NLEM is a dynamic document that is revised regularly to take into account changing public health priorities as well as advances in pharmaceutical knowledge.

NLEM was formulated in 1996 and it was revised three times earlier in 2003, 2011 and 2015. The revision of NLEM 2022 was done after continuous consultation with academia, industry and public policy experts etc. and key documents like WHO EML 2021.