Generic medicine price hike comes under fire

Generic medicine price hike comes under fire

JAKARTA (JP): The government's decision to raise the price of
generic medicine by an average of 20 percent has proven
controversial, as many fear it will make medicine too expensive
for the poor.

"I am afraid this decision will increase the mortality rate in
the coming years, and will mostly affect people from in the lower
economic classes," the chairman of the Indonesian Health Consumer
Empowerment Foundation, Marius Widjajarta, said on Wednesday.

He said the decision could place at risk those people
suffering from cancer and heart disease, as well as those
suffering from diarrhea and lung diseases.

The government announced on Monday that starting on Wednesday
the price of generic medicine would be increased by an average of
20 percent.

Before the price increase, generic drugs were about 40
percent to 80 percent less expensive than nongeneric drugs.

A lecturer at the medical school at the University of
Indonesia, Adi Sasongko, said: "It is probably too extreme to say
the mortality rate will increase, but I think the degree of
seriousness of the conditions will be severer."

With the current weak purchasing power of the people, the poor
are likely to use their money for staple foods and not to buy
medicine, even generic drugs, he said.

Adi regretted that the decision was taken at a time when the
country was mired in an economic crisis, which has been
complicated by social problems.

"People tend to get sick easily now, so why increase the price
of medicine now?" Adi asked.

The head of the Drug and Food Control Agency, Sampurno,
contended the decision was taken because government could not
afford to subsidize the ingredients imported by pharmaceutical
companies.

The subsidy, which began in 1998/1999 when the economic crisis
was at its peak, decreased from Rp 560 billion in 1998 to Rp 160
billion in 1999 and Rp 105 billion in 2000, he said.

This latest increase in the price of generic drugs follows an
15 percent increase in 1998.

Sampurno maintained that the government remained committed to
providing affordable health care for the people. He pointed out
that the generic drugs at community health centers in every
district or subdistrict throughout the country were free.

In countries such as Singapore and the United States, generic
drug sales account for up to 30 percent of total drug sales,
while in Indonesia they make up only 8 percent, Sampurno said.

Chainar, a 70-year-old resident of Depok, on the outskirts of
Jakarta, said that for minor illnesses like the flu she visited
the nearby community health center, where she received free
medicine.

But she still must visit the military-run Gatot Subroto
Hospital once a month to receive a checkup for heart and eye
problems.

"I still have to buy prescription drugs at the drugstore. I
have to spend about Rp 100,000 a month just for medicine," she
said.

Chainar said she hoped the price of generic drugs would not be
raised so high that "retirees like me cannot afford them".

Several drugstores in Jakarta had not yet increased the price
of their generic drugs on Wednesday.

"Maybe in one or two days," said an employee at a drugstore in
South Jakarta.

There are over 100 pharmaceutical companies in the country,
producing 262 different generic drugs. (emf)