A STUDY ON COST VARIATION ANALYSIS OF ORAL ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUGS AVAILABLE IN INDIA : LET'S TREAT HYPERTENSION MORE AFFORDABLY

Aim: Hypertension is a global public health problem. To decrease its morbidity and mortality it needs lifelong treatment. There is a wide range of variation in the prices of antihypertensive drugs marketed in India. Thus, a study was planned to evaluate the difference in cost of different brands of same active drug by calculating percentage variation of cost. Materials And Methods: The cost of different brands of commonly used antihypertensive drugs was sorted out by referring latest CIMS and Drug Today. The cost per 10 tablets/Capsules, in INR of each brand, cost Ratio and percentage Cost Variation were calculated. Results: The percentage variation in the cost was above 100% with most of drug therapy for hypertension and is in 35 out of 39. It's found maximum in olmesarton (20 mg) 309 %, . Metoprolol (50 mg ) 287 % , levamilodepine ( 2.5 mg) 278 % , carvedilol (50 mg) 270 % and telmisartan (20 mg ) 253 %. Conclusion: The average percentage price variation of the same molecules of antihypertensive drugs manufactured by different pharmaceuticals company in India is very wide. So,prescribing doctors should think about variation of cost and should go for cheaper alternatives for providing maximum benets to the patients receiving antihypertensive drugs.