PIB Summary- 20th March, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)

Context: NPPA brings 81 medicines under Price Regulation. The Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers informed the Lok  Sabha in a written reply that the NPPA is monitoring the situation regularly to ensure that ceiling prices of essential medicines are not breached and are available uninterruptedly.

Details

• NPPA fixes the prices of 81 medicines including off-patent anti-diabetic drugs allowing due benefits of patent expiry to the patients.

About the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)

• The NPPA was constituted as an attached office of the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers in 1997 as an independent Regulator for pricing of drugs and to ensure availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices.
• Functions and responsibilities:
  • To implement and enforce the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order in accordance with the powers delegated to it.
  • To deal with all legal matters arising out of the decisions of the Authority.
  • To monitor the availability of drugs, identify shortages, if any, and to take remedial steps.
  • To collect/maintain data on production, exports and imports, market share of individual companies, profitability of companies, etc. for bulk drugs and formulations.
  • To undertake and/or sponsor relevant studies in respect of pricing of drugs/pharmaceuticals.
  • To render advice to the Central Government on changes/revisions in the drug policy.
  • To render assistance to the Central Government in the parliamentary matters relating to the drug pricing.
• It regularly publishes lists of medicines and their maximum ceiling prices under the Drug Price Control Orders (DPCO).
• It is headquartered in New Delhi.

India TB Summit

Context: Union Minister gives keynote address at the India TB Summit.

Details

• The summit was organized to highlight the global and national prevalence of Tuberculosis in the run up to the World TB Day celebrations on 24th March, 2021.
• The Indian government has given a high priority to eradicating Tuberculosis in India by 2025, five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target of 2030.
• The government has rolled out the National Strategic Plan (NSP) for TB Elimination to guide all the activities of all stakeholders including the national and the state governments, developmental partners, civil society organizations, international agencies, research institutions, the private sector and the other stakeholders whose work is relevant to the elimination of TB in India. Know more about the NSP in the link for TB above.