COST VARIATION ANALYSIS OF ANTIMALARIAL DRUGS : A REVIEW

Abstract

Background: Malaria has been a major issue in India for ages. There are numerous antimalarial brands available on the market. Costly medications can place an economic burden on patients, resulting in lower compliance or even noncompliance. Noncompliance leads to insufficient therapy, which increases morbidity. Increases in patient pharmaceutical costs were found to be related to worse adherence to prescribed medicine. As a result, this study was conducted to analyze the cost variation of malaria drug-therapy. Methods: Price in Indian rupees (₹) of antimalarial drugs manufactured by different pharmaceutical companies in India, in the same strength and in same dosage form were obtained from Current index of medical specialties (CIMS) January-April 2023. Cost ratio and cost variation percentage were calculated and data was analysed. Results: The highest cost ratio and percentage cost variation were observed for Quinine injection 300mg/ml, with a cost ratio of 7 & a percentage cost variation of 599.65%.The lowest cost ratio was found for Mefloquine tablet 250mg injection, with a cost ratio of 1.01 and a percentage cost variation of 1.35%. Overall, the injectable antimalarial medications showed a considerable cost ratio and cost variation Conclusions: Ceiling cost of drugs are fixed by national pharmaceutical pricing authority (NPPA) government of India in accordance with DPCO 2023.Despite this there exists a wide variation of drug costs within one drug with the availability of various brands