why medicines are so expensive in India?

Introduction

There is barely any person in this world who has never taken any medicine, be it for a cold, cough, fever, or any other serious disease. But sometimes because of these medicines, people reach below the poverty line. If these medicines are breaking people's backs then why these medications are high-priced ?.

According to a study conducted by three specialists from the Public Health Foundation of India, almost 55 million Indians were forced into poverty in a single year as a result of having to pay for their own health care, and 38 million of them went below the poverty line because of expenditure on medications alone.

So, through this article, we are going to discover why these medications are so expensive, and what makes them high-priced.

Few terms to be known

Before continuing in the article, it is better to know a few terms.

Branded medicines: These are the medicines that are produced by a particular pharmaceutical company after long research and then they get the patent for it and sell that medicine under their brand name. For example- crocin.

Patent generic: When the patent of any branded medicines expires, other pharmaceutical companies also start manufacturing them, then these medicines are called patent generic. Generally, the patent of any medicine expires in 20 years.

Generic medicines: These medicines are sold in the name of their active ingredient. Generic medicines are around 80% to 85% cheaper than branded ones.                                                                              

The Indian generic medication market is expected to grow at a constant compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.97% during each year.

What makes medicines so expensive

The very simple reason is that pharmaceutical companies want to take money back whatever they have invested in its processing.

When I say processing it includes research, manufacturing, marketing, etc. It took companies more than a decade to manufacture new medicine in the market. During that period they invest huge amounts of money in its research and development, there is a fact that pharma companies invest around 25% of their earnings only in research and development which is quite high in comparison to other companies.

After getting a patent for a medicine, these pharma companies have to make people aware of their medicine which they do by advertising, or through contacting doctors. 

Now you know before the branded medicines reach our hands, they have to cross so many barriers be it testing or advertisement. For doing this, the companies shed money like water. 

So, whatever the company has invested in it, get it through people's pockets.

Which works better Generic or Branded ones

The generic and the branded medicines look different, be it in color, size, shape, and packaging, but they have the same active ingredient. So, they work the same. So, if any doctor prescribes you a branded medicine, you can check the active ingredients in the medicine and buy the generic ones. In this way, you will be able to save money as the generic ones cost a lot less in comparison to branded ones.

Hope you like this article, please let me know through comments.

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