IMA Telangana opposes hike in prices of essential drugs

In a statement issued here, IMA State president Dr BN Rao said the prices of 384 essential drugs and over 1,000 formulations were hiked by over 11 per cent due to a sharp rise in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) from Saturday.

Hyderabad: Strongly opposing the increase in prices of scheduled drugs, the Indian Medical Association’s Telangana chapter has urged the State government to take steps to absorb the hike so that people were not affected.

In a statement issued here, IMA State president Dr BN Rao said the prices of 384 essential drugs and over 1,000 formulations were hiked by over 11 per cent due to a sharp rise in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) from Saturday.

---

Due to the price surge, consumers would have to pay more for routine and essential drugs, including painkillers, anti-infection drugs, cardiac drugs and antibiotics. The essential medicines and life saving medicines were very much needed and it was the responsibility of both the Centre and the State government to ensure availability of drugs and affordability to poor people, Dr Rao said.

This was the second year in a row that the WPI was higher than the annual permitted price hike for non-scheduled formulations (10%), he said, adding that such a drastic hike would distort the price control in place on essential medicines.