As consumer groups and producers joust over the price of drugs, neither is happy with the government’s role. For one, just 10 per cent of our population has any health cover. Worse, the government is not a large buyer of medicines and, hence, unable to negotiate with companies against assured volumes. “The consumer is left to fend for himself,” says IPA’s Shah. A 1998 DSF analysis showed that Indians were paying higher prices for some commonly-used medicines than westerners supplied by government programmes. In India, even in diseases like AIDS, where there has been substantial public-funded intervention, some new drugs are reportedly still not part of free or subsidised drug programmes.

Recently, the Clinton Foundation got Indian companies to halve prices of copycats of new AIDS medicines. Yet, this is still too expensive for India to buy, says an official in the capital who is part of the country’s AIDS control programme. Also, government-backed hospitals like TMC, are exceptional. One recent study on corruption in government hospitals saw half the respondents complain that prescribed medicines were not available.

Ultimately, it is only when governments start paying through their nose for medicine do they look for solutions, says Menghaney. “Unless government hurts, it won’t act.”