Hazy provisions
Released on July 4, 2006, the national pharmaceutical policy, envisaged as an umbrella policy, was to fix problems related to access to affordable drugs. The policy suggests access would be improved if the number of drugs in the National List of Essential Medicines is increased to 354 from the present 74 medicines.
The Indian industry isn't amenable to this and is threatening to stop making these drugs since price control lowers the profits. To pacify industry, the government had set up a committee under Proneb Sen to find ways other than price control to ensure access (See