Abstract:
In the light of growing concerns regarding access to medicines and the distress about
the financial sustainability of the health care system in India, a robust drug policy is
inevitable for availability, affordability and accessibility of drugs to people. While an
increment in the financial spending on public health is the need of the hour, India
needs drug procurement models at state level with strong regulatory system in place
in order to monitor the checks and balances on the pharmaceutical companies. On the
other hand, India has had tryst with the patent regime and the unaffordable medicine
prices giving in to the pressure of the developed countries but today, the epidemic
diseases in the country have turned out to be a huge economic burden on the country.
It becomes imperative that India makes use of the flexibilities under TRIPS
Agreement and grant Compulsory Licenses to the patented drugs thus, breaking the
monopoly in the market. The study examines the issues of accessibility to medicines
to identify the strength and gaps in policies and develop future strategies for policy
framework that would enable an advanced health care ecosystem.
