The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has lauded the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council’s decision to slash GST on several cancer-related and essential medicines, calling it a “commendable step” that will improve healthcare accessibility across India.
In a statement issued on Monday, the IMA noted that lowering GST on life-saving medicines would significantly reduce treatment costs and ease the financial burden on patients and their families.
🔍 A Step Towards Affordable Healthcare
“The reduction in GST on critical drugs reflects the government’s commitment to strengthening public health infrastructure and supporting those battling serious medical conditions such as cancer, chronic diseases, and life-threatening infections,” the IMA said.
The GST Council is reportedly working on broader tax reforms to make healthcare more affordable, with proposals including:
- Reducing GST on cancer drugs and critical therapies from 12% to 5%.
- Bringing GST down to zero on certain life-saving medicines.
- Considering exemptions for medicines used in rare diseases.
📌 IMA’s Additional Recommendations
While welcoming the move, the IMA urged the government to go further by:
- Granting GST exemption on life-saving medicines such as chemotherapy drugs, immunotherapy, targeted therapies, and insulin.
- Exempting essential drugs for conditions like diabetes, hypertension, cardiac diseases, kidney disorders, asthma, COPD, osteoporosis, thyroid conditions, and serious infections.
- Removing GST on intravenous immunoglobulin and medicines for blood disorders like haemophilia.
The IMA also recommended:
- Lower GST on medical equipment, to reduce hospital operational costs.
- Complete GST removal on hospital beds, ensuring affordable hospitalisation.
- GST exemption on health insurance premiums, which would encourage wider adoption of insurance and ease the financial burden during medical emergencies.
✅ Conclusion
The GST cut on cancer and essential drugs has been widely welcomed by the healthcare community, but the IMA stressed that further exemptions on life-saving medicines, equipment, and insurance would be crucial to making healthcare truly affordable for millions of Indians.
