The decision to decontrol pricing of 108 drugs, used to treat cancer, AIDS, tuberculosis, diabetes and heart ailments, has led to a sky-rocketing hike in the prices. Even unbelievable in some cases.

The cost of Glivec, an anti-cancer drug, has soared from Rs. 8000 to Rs. 1.08 lakh. The blood pressure and heart ailment medication, Plavix, will come at a price tag of Rs. 1,615 which was earlier Rs. 147. KamRab, an anti-rabies injection, will now cost Rs. 7000 against previous Rs. 2,670.

In a circular issued by the government, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority(NPPA) was asked to withdraw its May 2014 drug price control guidelines. In order to improve affordability, the prices of these 108 drugs along with 800 other essential drugs were capped. According to the official figures, the country has 4.7 crore coronary heart disease, 4.1 crore diabetes, 22 lakh Tuberculosis, 11 lakh cancer and 25 lakh HIV/AIDS patients.

The drug companies, however, are happy with the move debating that these 108 drugs relate to lifestyle disease and therefore, not ‘essential’. As per the officials, these prices will go down once government negotiates with the pharma companies and that NPPA will not be regulating prices. Nonetheless, some argue that this decontrol is deliberate to earn brownie points with the US officials.