Panel to go into AIDS drug prices reduction

The government has constituted a working group to suggest ways to reduce prices of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs and diagnostic equipment for HIV patients.

The group will be chaired by the health secretary and have representatives from pharmaceutical companies, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The ARV drugs identified under the treatment programme are stavudine, lamivudine, nevirapine, zidovudine and efavirenz, Minister of State for Health A Raja informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to a question.

Raja said the government was actively contemplating introducing anti-retroviral drugs through the public healthcare system in vulnerable states. The six states with a high prevalence of HIV patients "" Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland and Tamil Nadu "" will benefit from the proposal.

The minister said about Rs 200 crore was likely to be spent in providing ARVs, including laboratory investigations for 100,000 AIDS cases in the first year of the programme.

Replying to another question, he said the government had constituted a National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, under the joint chair of the health and family welfare and finance ministers.