Duty on AIDS drugs to go

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Duty on AIDS drugs to go

TIMES NEWS NETWORK By KALPANA JAIN - THURSDAY, AUGUST 09, 2001

NEW DELHI: The government has decided to remove excise and customs duty on AIDS

drugs to bring down the cost of anti-retroviral therapy by 25 to 30 per cent.

Currently, the entire therapy, such as the three-drug regimen of Cipla costs

about Rs 2,000 a month.

The recent decision is another step in ensuring that HIV-related medicines are

available at an affordable cost. The decision was taken at a meeting attended by

representatives from ministries of finance, commerce, industrial policy and

promotion and chaired by Union minister for health and family welfare C P

Thakur.

It was also decided to ask the states to remove sales tax from these drugs,

which could facilitate a further 8 to 10 per cent reduction in prices. A

notification is expected shortly.

Earlier this year, Cipla took the first major step towards increasing access to

drugs when it announced its decision to reduce the price of its drugs. As a

result of this decision, the cost of a three-drug regimen produced by Cipla has

been reduced to almost tenth of its earlier price. The decision to remove excise

and customs will bring the prices down by a further 15 per cent.

For drugs that need to be imported, the price reduction will be around 30 to 35

per cent as a result of customs duty being removed. A three-drug therapy with

the use of these drugs presently costs about Rs 8,000 a month.

While HIV does not have any cure, the anti-viral drugs have been shown to

improve the quality of a life of person living with the virus. Those with HIV

can continue to live healthy lives with the support of these new medicines,

which keep the viral load in the body to a minimum level. All these drugs have

their limitation and can fight the infection only till a certain time. In

addition, they are also known to have side-effects and need careful monitoring.

But the cost of these medicines has been one of the several limiting factors in

their access. Improved access to these drugs can improve voluntary testing by

individuals who suspect an infection. This is important for preventing the

further spread of HIV. Already, an estimated 3.8 million people in the country

are living with the virus.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=1316462997

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