New Delhi: Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday released a revised National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), in which 384 drugs have been included and 26 from the previous list have been dropped.
With the addition, several antibiotics, vaccines and anti-cancer drugs will become more affordable by their addition to the list.
Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya launched the National List of Essential Medicines today
This list of 384 medicines has been updated after 2015. It's a very long process… there were 140 consultations with over 350 experts, he said pic.twitter.com/3HIJNZKmat
— ANI (@ANI) September 13, 2022
“This will give boost to cost-effective, quality medicines and contribute towards reduction in Out of Pocket Expenditure on healthcare for the citizens,” the union minister was quoted as saying in the official release.
This list has now been updated after seven years since the year 2015. The Health Minister said that this is a very long process, several meetings were held in consultation with a large number of experts after which the new list has been finalized.
In his address during a program, the Union Minister said that these medicines will ensure accessibility, affordability and safety in the health sector of the country in the coming days. These will prove useful to PM Modi’s claim of affordability and availability of medicines.
According to the information, 384 new medicines have been included in this list of essential medicines. At the same time, the central government has removed 26 medicines from the list of outgoing medicines.
This step has been taken with the aim of providing better health services to the needy people.
