Govt eliminates customs duty on 3 key cancer drugs, cuts levy on X-ray tubes

New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman eliminated customs duty on three key life-saving cancer drugs with an aim to provide relief to patients struggling with mounting healthcare costs.

Presenting the Union budget 2024-24 in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Sitharaman also reduced the basic customs duty on x-ray tubes and flat panel detectors used in medical x-ray machines.

Manufactured by AstraZeneca, the three cancer drugs—Trastuzumab Deruxtecan, Osimertinib and Durvalumab—are quite expensive. The three drugs earlier attracted an import tax of 10%. With the government's budget move, they will become cheaper.

“All imported life saving drugs are costly and customs duty exemption is a welcome step. Deruxtecan drug is a breast cancer drug and can be used in all cancers with HER2 positive gene. Osimertinib and Durvalumab are used for lung cancer treatment. However, we use Durvalumab for biliary tract cancers. All these cancers are quite common in India and detected in late stages in our country,” said Dr. Shyam Aggarwal, chairman , medical oncology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi.

High mortality

India reports 14.13 lakh new cancer patients every year, with annual reported mortality of 9.16 lakhs, as per data by GLOBOCAN 2022 by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), World Health Organization.

In India, around 2 lakh women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. Poor lifestyle such as late marriage, alcohol and smoking, inadequate breast feeding make hormonal imbalances in women, potentially causing breast cancer in them.

Also read |  Healthtech’s latest buzzword is a relentless killer

Also read | Understanding tax implications of crowdfunding for cancer care

Also read |  Cancer treatment: Make lifestyle changes to prevent deaths, says US study

“Government decision on full removal of customs duty on more medicines... is a big relief to significantly ease the financial burden on cancer patients. This announcement came amidst growing concerns over healthcare affordability and access to critical medication. We welcome this move, noting its potential to improve patient outcomes and alleviate financial stress on families battling cancer. The decision reflects a commitment to prioritizing healthcare accessibility and affordability nationwide by the government,” said Dr. Abhishek Shankar, professor of Oncology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi.

X-ray tubes, digital detectors also cheaper

The finance minister also reduced customs duty on x-ray tubes and digital detectors. India's imports of medical devices have consistently been over ₹61,000 crore for the last three years and this year, they have increased by 13% to ₹69,000 crore.

X-ray tools fall under the category of medical devices. The medical devices sector in India is a sunrise sector. In 2022, the market size of the medical devices sector in India was estimated to be $11 billion, and the country's share in the global medical device market is estimated to be 1.5%.

“We are thankful to the government for the reduction in duty on the import of components of x-ray equipment until these get to be produced in India. This enables continuity in investment in efforts to become a manufacturing hub of x-ray equipment globally. We had raised the issue of increase in customs duty and removal of benefits for import of x-ray tube and flat panel detector under the Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP). Since there are no domestic manufacturers available for these two critical components, the rescheduling will provide relief and the action by the government is appreciable,” said Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator of AiMeD (Association of Indian Medical Devices Industry).