17 cancer drugs cheaper after customs duty exemption: These have survival benefits, says AIIMS doctor
During the interim budget as well, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had reduced the customs duty on three advanced anti-cancer therapies.
Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman poses with her team for a photo op before leaving to present the Budget in New Delhi on Sunday. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the exemption of 17 cancer drugs from basic customs duty in her budget speech on Sunday. These include immunotherapies such as Ribociclib, Ceritinib, and Trametinib, among others. This is in line with the Government’s push towards bringing down the prices of newer cancer therapies.
Last year, Sitharaman said that 37 medicines and 13 patient assistance programmes would be exempt from customs duty. And, during the interim budget as well, the Union finance minister had reduced the customs duty on three advanced anti-cancer therapies.
Dr Abhishek Shankar, an oncologist from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, said, “These drugs are important for the treatment of breast cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma, and leukaemia. These are newer therapies that are known to have a survival benefit. Any reduction in cost is likely to increase the acceptability of these drugs and reduce the out-of-pocket expenditure for the patients.”
Share
