The decision was taken as per the commitment expressed by the government in the three-year interim plan to revise and fix prices of at least 10 essential drugs. The entire task of putting ceilings on prices of some of the essential medicines will be undertaken by the Drugs Price Evaluation Committee, which is headed by the director of Department of Drugs Administration (DDA), the drugs regulatory body of the country.
Although the government was planning to start this work some time ago it had not been able to do so due to incomplete nature of the price evaluation committee. Due to this the seven-member committee, formed around one and a half years ago, had not been able to function till date. However, after the vacant position designated for consumer groups was recently filled by Rastriya Upabhokta Manch, the committee had decided to start its work. Other members of the committee include Nepal Pharmaceutical Association and Nepal Chemist and Druggist Association, among others.
"We are planning to hold the first meeting by mid-June," a DDA senior official told myrepublica.com. "The meetings held thereafter will decide on the names of medicines, whose prices have to be fixed." Currently prices of only two medicines, namely paracetamol and IV fluid, have been fixed by the government.
"Inclusion of more medicines to the list is expected to provide relief to consumers who find huge price variations on similar drugs manufactured by different companies," the DDA official said. "The decision to fix the prices will also prevent manufacturers from raising drugs prices at frequent intervals."
A snap survey conducted recently by Republica revealed that costs of some of the common medicines such as omeprazole and antibiotics like amoxicillin and ampicloxacillin, had gone up by more than 50 percent lately. It was later known that domestic drug manufacturers had raised prices, breaching the ceiling on prices put by the government.
"We are sure the manufacturers will not repeat the same mistake this time as we will monitor the prices strictly and punish those who violate the law," the DDA official said.
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