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Sales tax relief on medicines lauded

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JULY 23. The Delhi Diabetes Research Centre has lauded the exemption in sales tax granted in the Delhi Budget for medicines and equipment used in the treatment and diagnosis of various serious ailments including diabetes saying it will greatly help in control and monitoring of the ailment.

Stating that the move would benefit the 14 per cent diabetic population of the city or nearly 20 lakh people, the president of the Centre, A.K. Jhingan, said it would also encourage the diagnosis and treatment of the disease since along with insulin and syringes, the glucometers and their test strips would also become cheaper. With the 8 per cent sales tax on all these items being waived, Dr. Jhingan said it would substantially help the families which are dependent on insulin for control of diabetes. "Since a patient taking drugs for heart ailment or other diseases and insulin for diabetes normally spends over Rs 1,000 a month, the abolition of the sales tax would lead to substantial savings.'' But most important, he said, by making the glucometers and test strips cheaper, the exemption would lead to greater use of these diagnostic aids and help people quickly detect the disease and monitor it regularly. "This aspect is important, for if not controlled properly, diabetes leads to complications.''

Noting that these complications are expensive to deal with, he said, they include blindness due to retinopathy, renal failure leading to kidney transplant or heat attack which may require a bypass surgery. Asserting that all these complications are "preventable'' through control of blood sugar, Dr Jhingan said for ensuring that necessary precautions are taken by the patients, it is essential that they regularly monitor their blood sugar levels.

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