Lok Sabha Question No. 283 (STARRED), answered on 2022-08-05
Subject: Expenditure on Medicines and Prescription Drugs
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Rajiv Pratap Rudy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 283

## TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 5 TH  AUGUST, 2022

## EXPENDITURE ON MEDICINES AND PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

## *283. SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  details  of  consumption  of  medicines  and  prescription  drugs  in  the  country, State-wise;
- (b)  whether  Bihar  is  amongst  the  highest  consumer  of  medicines  and  prescription drugs in the country, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the per capita expenditure on medicines and prescription drugs purchased in the country, State/UT-wise including Bihar;
- (d) whether the Government has data on per household or per capita out of pocket expenditure on purchase of medicines; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR MANSUKH MANDAVIYA)

- (a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 283* FOR 5 TH  AUGUST, 2022

(a) to (e): 'Public Health' being a State subject, the information related to consumption  of  medicines  and  prescription  drugs  in  the  States  is  not  maintained centrally.

The  National  Health  Accounts  (NHA)  Estimates  for  India  2017-18  database provides  information  on  both,  prescribed  medicines  as  well  as  over-the-counter medicines (OTC) consumed by the households. Per capita Out of Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) on prescribed medicine for outpatient care in Bihar in 2017-18 was Rs. 198/while for  OTC medicines, per capita OOPE was Rs 100/-. In comparison with the other states, Bihar ranks lowest in prescribed medicines and for OTC medicines, it is ranked sixth in the list of 21 states ordered from lowest to highest as per their per capita  expenditure on OTC medicines. In case of overall medicine, Bihar's rank is lowest. This indicates low consumption of medicine in the state of Bihar.

Table  1:  Per  capita  expenditure  on  medicines  (both  prescribed  and  OTC medicines)

(in Rupees)

| State             |   Prescribed Medicines |   OTC- Includes Informal Care |   Grand Total |
|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------|
| Andhra Pradesh    |                   1311 |                           177 |          1488 |
| Assam             |                    250 |                           136 |           386 |
| Bihar             |                    198 |                           100 |           298 |
| Chattisgarh       |                    321 |                            80 |           401 |
| Gujarat           |                    509 |                            81 |           590 |
| Haryana           |                    728 |                            89 |           817 |
| Himachal Pradesh  |                   1614 |                            86 |          1700 |
| Jammu and Kashmir |                    505 |                           116 |           621 |
| Jharkhand         |                    707 |                           140 |           847 |
| Karnataka         |                    391 |                           119 |           510 |
| Kerala            |                   2270 |                           297 |          2567 |
| Madhya Pradesh    |                    468 |                            90 |           558 |
| Maharashtra       |                    792 |                           144 |           936 |
| Odisha            |                    721 |                           153 |           874 |
| Punjab            |                   1092 |                           132 |          1224 |
| Rajasthan         |                    579 |                           108 |           687 |
| Telangana         |                    541 |                           122 |           663 |

| Tamil Nadu    |   460 |   201 |   661 |
|---------------|-------|-------|-------|
| Uttar Pradesh |   992 |   126 |  1118 |
| Uttarakhand   |   270 |   141 |   411 |
| West Bengal   |  1354 |   145 |  1499 |

Source: National Health Accounts Reports, 2017-18, (Based on NSSO round 75th, 2017-18 and Sales data by IQviA).

As per the National Health Accounts (NHA) Estimates for India 2017-18, per capita  Total  Health  Expenditure  (THE)  is  Rs.  4,297  and  per  capita  Out  of  Pocket Expenditure  (OOPE) is  Rs.  2,097.  The  State-wise  per  capita  OOPE  is  available  in Table A.6: Key Health Financing indicators for select States: NHA estimates 201718.  The  report  on  National  Health  Accounts  (NHA)  Estimates  for  India  2017-18 published in 2021 is available at https://nhsrcindia.org/sites/default/files/202111/National%20Health%20Accounts-%202017-18.pdf.