Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s anticipated budget release next month, the chairperson of large pharmaceutical company Biocon Ltd. stated that India should remove the tax on medications used to treat cancer as well as chronic and uncommon ailments.
Reuters was informed by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw that medications needed to treat long-term conditions including diabetes and cancer ought to be tax-exempt.
She urged the government to think about lowering the cost of life-saving treatments and removing the tax on them, saying, “In India, the majority of the spending on medicines are out of pocket – even diagnostic scans are highly expensive.”
“All medications for cancer are costly. Mazumdar-Shaw stated that any medication needed for long-term care that costs more than 5,000 rupees ($60) per month ought to be tax-exempt.
Over the weekend, calls for comment from government officials were not returned. In July, the government reduced taxes on some cancer medications and freed three from customs duties.
According to Rajiv Singhal, general secretary of the All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists, there is often a 12% tax on medications for chronic illnesses.
“The tax is a hardship for the patient in a market as price-sensitive as India. When it comes to medications, which are not a luxury, the government should not consider profitability,” he stated.
Mazumdar-Shaw stated that the government should also lower import taxes on high-tech equipment, raw materials, and consumables required to create life-saving precision medications in order to lower the cost of cancer treatment in India, which is a country that is sensitive to pricing.
Her words, “This will make a tremendous difference to patients,” Medical equipment import taxes in India can reach 36%. Cell therapy is the focus of Mazumdar-Shaw’s Immuneel Therapeutics firm.
With the United States as one of its biggest markets, India’s pharmaceutical sector is hoping to capitalize on the anticipated trade tension between China and Donald Trump’s government, which retakes the White House on Monday.
Mazumdar-Shaw stated that India stands to benefit as nations seek to reduce their reliance on China in the wake of COVID-19. “I think the Trump administration is unlikely to take a strong anti-China posture because they realize that they are dependent on China for many things,” she added.
-NSH Digidesk
