Minister gives ‘costly’ insulin shot in the arm

Minister gives ‘costly’ insulin shot in the arm
Sreelatha Menon

New Delhi, December 26: Which is a better and more viable treatment option for diabetics: animal-based insulin or the human-based variety? The Union Health Minister has spoken his mind on the issue and endorsed the more expensive human-based insulin.

Dr C.P.Thakur, while replying to a question raised by Priyaranjan Dasmunshi in the Lok Sabha On November 29, said animal-based insulin was not as good as human insulin. Though the former variety is cheaper and more widely used, it generates antibodies which raise the body's requirement of insulin, he declared.

``A person who needs 10 units begins to need 20 units, then 40, then 80. Hence animal-based insulin has been discarded in the west,'' Thakur had said.

However, leading doctors have termed the minister's statement as ill-informed and a promotion of the more expensive type of insulin.

Dr N. Kochupillai, head of the endocrinology department at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here, said Thakur's statement was totally wrong. ``There is no basis for such a notion,'' he said. ``I have conducted studies which have been published in international journals proving that the two insulins are equally good,'' he said.

While animal-based insulin costs Rs 65 per vial, human insulin costs over Rs 200 per vial. Both the insulin varieties are marketed in India by three companies: Boots Nova, US Vitamin and Ely Lylly.

When told about Kochupillai's observation, Dr Thakur claimed that he didn't know that human insulin was three times more expensive than animal insulin. He agreed that the shortage of animal insulin in the market could be artificially fuelled since companies marketing animal insulin were also marketing human insulin.

``But what is the rationale in making human insulin if animal insulin is as good,'' asked Dr Thakur. He proposed that human insulin could be made cheaper through genetic engineering.

At any rate, some doctors aren't convinced about Thakur's endorsement. ``If animal-based insulin has been discarded in the west, it's because insurance companies pick up the tab for treatment, unlike in India where people pay their own bills,'' pointed out Dr A.K. Jhingan, who runs the non-profit Delhi Diabetics Research Centre. ``Thakur's statement is shocking at a time when there is shortage of the cheaper animal-based insulin which is used by 70 per cent of patients.''

Dr Umesh Kansara, head of the diabetes clinic in Safdarjung Hospital, said Thakur was theoretically right in saying animal insulin generates antibodies. But then, any foreign substance including human insulin generates anti bodies, he pointed out.