Centre declares face masks, sanitisers as essential items

The government declared face masks and hand sanitisers as essential commodities for the next 100 days as it stepped up efforts to boost supply and prevent hoarding of these items in its fight to check spread of COVID-19. 

Meanwhile, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on March 13 asked states and Union Territories (UTs) to ensure that masks and sanitisers are not sold above their maximum retail price. 

“The state drug controllers (SDCs) and food and drugs administrators (FDAs) of all the states and union territories have been requested to have a close vigilance in the market to check the sale of masks and sanitizers at the rates higher than the MRP,” the drug pricing authority said in a tweet.

NPPA Chairman Shubhra Singh on March 12 met representatives of pharmaceutical industry associations on the issue of availability of critical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). “It is assured that sufficient stock of critical APIs and formulations is available to meet the requirements of the situation arising out of COVID-19,” NPPA had said in a tweet. 

NPPA is an independent regulator for pricing of drugs and to ensure availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices.