Sales of drugs used to treat respiratory diseases will increase sharply between 2024 and 2025, indicating a rise in demand for drugs prescribed for conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and allergies, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan left after the adjournment of the House during the ongoing budget session of Parliament in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Parliament TV)Figures based on data from the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) show that the total sales price of respiratory drugs increased in December. ₹17,199.40 crore in 2024 ₹18,912.64 crores in 2025 ₹1,700 crore within a year.
In its written reply to Parliament, the government said air pollution is a “major cause of respiratory illness”. The reply said, “No conclusive data is available in the country to establish direct correlation of death/disease due to air pollution. Air pollution is one of the causes of respiratory distress and associated diseases. Health effects of air pollution are a complex manifestation of factors including diet, medical practices, social status, history of social conditions. Heredity of individuals etc.”
According to public health experts, the data points to increasing pressure on respiratory health in India, while arguing that the increase in sales underscores the need for stronger air quality controls and long-term preventive public health measures to reduce the underlying causes of respiratory illness.
Dr Randeep Guleria, former director of AIIMS, said: “Denying a direct link of air pollution to lung disease or death is almost like saying that smoking is harmless because there is no test that says this person’s smoking caused cancer.” Explaining the association of air pollution with an increasing number of serious health illnesses and subsequent increases in mortality, Dr. Guleria added, “There is enough evidence that pollutants being released into the air are harmful. There is epidemiological data and lab-based data to show that they are harmful and therefore associated with worse disease in humans, which is associated with worse disease. Heart problems and respiratory conditions.”
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Dr Akshay Budharaja, Senior Consultant and HOD, Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Aakash Healthcare, said: “This data shows that more people need medicines for breathing problems. The sharp increase in sales is usually due to more patients falling ill or their symptoms worsening due to respiratory ailments. Unless air quality improves and we can keep a check on the number of vehicular pollution and pollution. The number of patients will continue to rise.”
