India: a continued emphasis on self-medication
September 2005

The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) is on stage again this season with its 39th Annual Review, which was held in Mumbai on 24th September 2005. OPPI’s President, Mr Ranjit Shahani, adressed many of the challenges and opportunities that the pharmaceutical sector is facing in India. On the particular debate around pricing, he said: “medicines are a small percentage of Healthcare expenditure; the per day treatment cost for common ailments is less than the average cost of common goods and services of daily consumption”, giving as example several comparisons such as the per day treatment for a common cold (1.50 Rs) versus a Newspaper (2.00 Rs). “The real issue is not prices but access to medicines” he concluded on this matter, thus referring to OPPI’s recent proposal to switch 11 molecules to OTC status.