10/05/2012 - Myclipp

Business Line/ - Markets, Seg, 14 de Maio de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Supreme Court)
Ministers' panel on pharma to meet again
on Friday
A Group of Ministers (GoM) on National
Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy is likely to meet again on
Friday.The GoM, which met on Monday, decided to
meet again to hear out stakeholders before starting
internal deliberations from June."This is an ongoing
process and we cannot take decisions everyday," the
Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Anand Sharma,
told reporters.He said the committee would deliberate
after all the inputs are taken.The ministerial panel,
which is to consider cost plus profit pricing mechanism
for 348 drugs that are listed as essential medicines by
the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, met with
retail participants in the sector including the Indian
Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) and All India
Organisation of Chemists and Druggists.The
ministerial panel, headed by the Agriculture Minister,
Mr Sharad Pawar, would make final recommendations
to the Cabinet.The proposal may also have to get a
final nod from the Supreme Court that had initially
directed the Government to formulate a policy to make
essential medicines available and affordable to
consumers."We have not started discussing the basic
issues because we are giving opportunity to others.
We have not started giving consent to any matter," Mr
Pawar said.He said the next meeting would also be
just a hearing as there are many issues and one has to
find a good balance. There are around seven lakh drug
retail outlets in India and all have made some
suggestions, he added.The ministerial panel is likely
meet with two non-government organisations and
Member of Parliament, Ms Jyoti Mirdha, to hear their
views, he said."Today, the medicines are doctors'
driven, but we want it to be consumer driven. The
doctors should give generic name of the medicines
instead of their brand names," Mr J. S. Shinde,
President, All India Organisation of Chemists and
Druggists said.Constituted in September 2009, the
ministerial panel includes the Health and Family
Welfare Minister, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, Commerce
and Industry Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, and Planning
Commission Deputy Chairman, Mr Montek Singh
Ahluwalia.ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in
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