Amid a function held in the capital on Wednesday, Minister for Health and Population Khagaraj Adhikari said the move will benefit the public as prices of the medicines have been reduced by 20 percent.Of the total medicines included in the list, 18 are highly used ones. The list also includes medicines used in the treatment of cancer and other chronic ailments.
"It is just the start. We will soon fix the prices for other medicines as well," said Minister Adhikari.
Department of Drug Administration (DDA), which falls under the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) and is responsible for setting limit on medicine prices, said that companies that are selling the medicines already at prices lower than the MRP unveiled by the DDA will not be allowed to raise prices.
"Those who have been selling medicines at higher rates will have to reduce the prices, while those who have been selling at lower prices will not be allowed to increase them," said Bal Krishna Kharel, director general (DG) of the DDA said.
The DDA said that pricelist would be published on its website and that it would strengthen market monitoring to ensure that retailers abide by the reduced pricing.
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