Cancer Drugs in Budget 2024: This time in the first budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Government 3.0, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has opened her coffers for cancer patients for the health sector. In Budget 2024, the Finance Minister has removed the custom duty on imported cancer medicines. Till now, 10 percent custom duty was levied on these three cancer medicines, which has been removed and made zero. This will save about 40 thousand rupees every month for cancer patients.
These three cancer medicines are life saving imported drugs. Let us know from Dr. Ajay Gogia, Additional Professor in the Department of Medical Oncology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, IRCH, which cancer medicines have become cheaper, how much relief will patients get from these?
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These three cancer medicines have become cheaper
1. trastuzumab deruxtecan
2. Osimertinib
3. Durvalumab
In which cancer is it useful, what are the prices?
, Trastuzumab derextecan- This drug is used to treat all types of positive breast cancer. It is used as an antibody drug when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. It is also known as Herceptin. It is also being studied for use in gastric cancer.
Usually, a cancer patient has to take this medicine once in 3 weeks. One dose of this medicine requires 3 vials, so its cost is estimated to be up to Rs 4 lakh.
. Osimertiniv- This drug is used as targeted therapy in non-small cell lung cancer. This drug works especially well against cancers that have become resistant to generations of EGFR inhibitors. The patient has to take this drug daily. Its monthly dosage costs about Rs 1.5 lakh.
, Durbalumaev- It is an immunotherapy drug that helps activate the immune system by blocking the PD-L1 protein. It is especially used to treat non-small cell lung cancer and bladder cancer when initial treatment has failed.
The patient has to take this medicine once in 3 weeks i.e. about 21 days. The estimated price of one dose in the market is around Rs 2.5 lakh.
How much cheaper will medicines become due to budget relief
Dr. Ajay Gogia says that imported cancer medicines are already very expensive. However, nowadays they are available in India as well. Still, the cost of these life saving drugs is so high that taking them on a routine basis is very expensive for the patients. According to an estimate, only about 5 percent of the patients are able to buy these medicines. All the rest take treatment through alternatives to these medicines.
After removing 10% custom duty from these medicines in the budget, there will be a difference of about 10% in their prices. In such a situation, the medicine costing Rs 4 lakh in a month will cost around Rs 3.5 lakh after this relief in the budget. In such a situation, patients will be able to save about Rs 40-50 thousand every month, although these will still be expensive for the patients.
Cheaper options are also available
Dr. Gogia says that these three cancer medicines are expensive but there are cheaper alternatives to these medicines available in India. In such a situation, for those patients who cannot afford these, cheaper medicines are available, although it is certain that they may not be as effective as these medicines but they are given to the patients because they are within their pockets.
Tags: budget session, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Health News, Trending news
FIRST PUBLISHED : July 23, 2024, 14:54 IST
