The NPPA full form is the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority. NPPA is an Indian regulatory authority agency that looks after the prices of pharmaceutical drugs. This agency was formed on August 29, 1997. It worked as an attached office of the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is an independent Regulator that guarantees the availability and accessibility of pharmaceutical drugs or medicines at very affordable prices.

NPPA Functions

• To regulate and revise the arrangements of the drugs prices and its formulations according to the norms.
• To ensure the availability of the medicines under the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCA), 1995/2013.
• To manage every single legitimate issue emerging out of the choices of the Authority.
• To recover the overcharged amounts asked by the manufacturers from the customers.
• To keep up information on production, exports and imports, market share of companies, profits and more on bulk drugs supply.
• To inform the Central Government on changes/amendments in the medication policy.
• To help the Central Government in the parliamentary issues identifying with the medication pricing.

Drug Price Control Orders (DPCO)

NPPA, DPCO is an order issued by the Indian Government in order to exercise the powers granted under the Essential Commodities Act, 1995. This order enables the government to declare a fix ceiling price for essential life-saving drugs to the general public. The latest DPCO came into 2013 with a list of 384 drugs.

NPPA Drug Policy

As health is a fundamental human right, it needs to get updated regularly according to the norms. Therefore, the drug policy was first introduced in 1986 and again the amendment made to this policy was in the same year 1986. The amendment was given a title called “Measures for Rationalization, Quality Control and Growth of Drugs Pharmaceutical Industry in India” which was introduced under the supervision and leadership of late Sh. Rajiv Gandhi.

Further, there came a Pharmaceutical Policy in 2002 with an objective to ensure the abundant availability of drugs at cost-effective prices, plus quality production and export of pharmaceuticals with less trade-barrier.

NPPA India is a wide concept and you can get detailed information from its official website www.nppaindia.nic.in. Even, if you are preparing for UPSC, you will find NPPA UPSC a topic of concern.

NPPA Price List

It regularly revises its price list of medicines with their maximum ceiling price. You can access the updated NPPA price list at their official website.

Relevant NPPA News

• NPPA fixes ceiling price of necessary drugs listed in Schedule I of DPCO, 2013
• The cost calculation for essential drugs depends on all medicines in particular therapeutic segment with sales of more than 1%.
• Medications that are not under cost control are allowed to increase the maximum retail price by 10% yearly by manufacturers.

It is a major chapter when it comes to life, and it is highly needed to pay full attention. Here, we provide brief information for users and rest you can also check NPPA wiki for further concern.

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