CDAP REVAMPED

The CDAP programme is set to be revamped making more drugs more accessible to you, here's the details from Thursday's post cabinet media briefing.

Transcript

00:00Cabinet has accepted recommendations by the CDAP review committee to make some

00:05changes to the chronic disease assistance program. First off, Health

00:09Minister Dr. Lacram Bodo says is the rationalization of the drug listing.

00:14What the committee would have recommended is that outdated and clinically inferior

00:19medications have been replaced in some categories and I can give you a couple

00:26of examples here. So for example in the area of mental health the drug sulpyridide

00:32has now been replaced by a drug by the name of risperidone which is a more

00:37effective anti-psychotic agent. As of July 2025 the program offered some 52

00:44pharmaceutical items but that's about to change. Introduce this time additional

00:51medications in this instance is two medications and the cabinet has accepted

00:55that recommendation which will be to add a drug called Clopidrel 75 milligram the

01:01common name is Plavix and a drug called Losatan the common name is COSA 50

01:07milligram. These these additions to CDAP are new and of course they offer they

01:14will offer protection in the area of cardiovascular disease. These changes were

01:18redounded to a savings of some four million dollars per cycle. Most

01:23significantly Dr. Bodo explains will be the 70% savings by replacing the blood

01:29glucose monitoring system. As it stands each glucose testing strip costs some one

01:36dollar and fifteen cents but through a government to government program with

01:40India. We have found that we can replace these strips that currently cost the

01:45government one dollar and fifteen cents and now we can acquire ISO certified WHO

01:52pre-qualified strips at less than 34 cents per unit delivering much better value so I

01:59just want to make the point here because the question will be asked of course when

02:03the cost is reduced whether the same quality is being offered to the public and I

02:08want to give the assurance that the answer to that is yes. The CDAP program treats

02:13some 11 chronic diseases by providing free of charge pharmaceutical items at

02:18over 230 pharmacies and that too is likely to change. We want to also look at

02:26enhanced rural access access to medication should not be determined by postcode in

02:31this regard we are removing the sixty eight thousand dollar technology entry costs

02:37previously required of pharmacies to join CDAP. Additionally a CDAP plus program for advanced

02:43treatment not covered under the current system is to be ruled out. The CDAP program affects the

02:50lives of over 300,000 subscribers. Arvashi Tawari, Rupanarain, TV6 News.