Can India make cancer care more affordable?
In Focus by The Hindu

Can India make cancer care more affordable?

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 5, 20261 hr 1 min
  • Interview
  • Health

The Supreme Court has called out the rampant profiteering in the healthcare sector, including cancer medication. Terming the overpricing of essential cancer medicines as “broad, daylight dacoity”, the court said, “This is carnage. Plain and simple. The cancer drug is priced at an MRP of Rs 27,000 despite being supplied to retailers for Rs 2,700.” Ten times higher markup! It also suggested capping the profit margin for all medicines at 16%. India’s cancer burden is growing at an alarming rate. Every year, we record 15.6 lakh new cancer cases, and 9 lakh deaths due to cancer. More than 90% of India’s working population doesn’t have...

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Cancer drug is priced at an MRP of Rs 27,000 despite being supplied to retailers for Rs

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This is In Focus, the Hindu's current affairs podcast. Cancer drug is priced at an MRP of Rs 27,000 despite being supplied to retailers for Rs 2,700, a markup of 10 times. It also suggested capping the profit margin for all medicines at 16%.

0:46

India's cancer burden is growing at an alarming rate. Every year, we record 15.6 lakh new cancer cases and 9 lakh deaths due to cancer. More than 90% of India's working population doesn't have a stable or formal employment. A majority of them are not even adequately covered by health insurance.

1:09

Taken together, this means high out-of-pocket expenditure for treatment, which imposes a huge economic burden on the patient's family. A recent survey showed that the overall prevalence of catastrophic health expenditure was 80.4% to outpatient treatment. Clearly, the stratospheric costs of medicines, of diagnostics and consultation

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