‘The first thing that should be done is to accord healthcare infrastructure status’

Affordability, availability and access are becoming increasingly important particularly in the context of healthcare. The pharma industry is going through challenging times and with elections currently going on there is hope that the next Prime Minister and his/her Government will have healthcare high up on the agenda. The first thing that should be done is to accord healthcare infrastructure status. Once that happens much else will fall into place.

India spends just 1.2 per cent of GDP on healthcare with scant attention paid to healthcare financing, infrastructure, environmental and societal factors that impact access. The new Government should increase healthcare spend to at least three per cent of GDP to ensure universal health coverage.

We at the research -based pharma industry would certainly like to see a more predictable environment – one that encourages innovation. Over the past two years, there have been several IP decisions that have disproportionately impacted innovative pharma companies. This coupled with the constant threat of compulsory licensing needs to be addressed speedily.

Introducing research tax credits which can be used to offset future tax liability along the lines of existing systems in developed economies will be useful in spurring research by the local pharma industry. According benefits to units engaged in R&D and exempting income generated from utilisation of IP will also serve as an impetus. Recently, the Government moved away from 100 per cent FDI through the automatic route and the planned enabling of the Competition Commissions as the approving authority for pharma FDI remains pending. Higher FDI will be to the long-term interest of the patient for funds are very much the need of the hour to provide a fillip to the healthcare sector.

Needless to say all life-saving drugs should be completely free of any import and other duties to help broaden access. Government should partner with industry to make medicines available to economically weaker sections of society while allowing market forces to influence pricing for the rest of the population.

Clinical trials have all but come to a standstill with the limited understanding reflected by sections of society including the media.

We would like to see Government coordinate better with industry and other stakeholders to ensure that the processes in place for approving and conducting clinical trials are robust but not overly burdensome.

Also, clinical trials should be accorded priority status such that all expenses linked to trials at approved hospitals are eligible for weighted deduction.

All stakeholders in the realm of healthcare share a common goal of healthcare for all. We need to work together to make this happen.

– Ranjit Shahani, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Novartis India