Govt denies drug prices here too high

Govt denies drug prices here too high

JAKARTA (JP): The government has denied an allegation by a
powerful consumer group that drug prices in Indonesia are among
the most expensive in the Asia Pacific region.

Iwan Darmansyah, an official of PT Askes, the state health
insurance company, said on Friday that the allegation made by the
Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) was totally groundless.

Iwan refuted the foundation's claim that drug prices in
Indonesia are high because of the country's reliance on imported
raw materials.

"If we were to produce our own raw materials for medicine, the
prices of our drugs would be even more expensive," he said at the
launching of Askes's new List and Ceiling Price of Drugs, a
reference guide for doctors and drug stores of the amounts that
will be reimbursed to Askes members.

"No country is self sufficient in producing its own raw
materials for prescription drugs," he said. Some investors have
tried to produce raw materials such as paracetamol and amphicilin
in Indonesia, he said, but the projects were abandoned for one
reason or another.

YLKI published on Thursday a study that it jointly carried out
with Consumers International. The study found drug prices in
Indonesia to be among the highest in the region, sometimes four
to five times higher.

The foundation urged the government to control the prices of
drugs while ensuring safety standards. It also proposed the
establishment of a board to ensure that imported raw materials
for drugs are not excessively priced.

Iwan said the report could raise false expectations that drug
prices in Indonesia can be brought down.

Wisnu Katim, the Director General of Drug and Food Supervision
at the Ministry of Health, regretted YLKI's "hasty" decision to
go public with the report and questioned the validity of its
findings.

"In comparing the prices of medicine in other countries, they
have to treat the whole set of medicine prices in order to make a
fair comparison," he said.

He said the study was "somewhat naive" because the foundation
did not address the complexities of the local pharmaceutical
industry.

Wisnu said market forces ensure that no manufacturer can fix
or hike its prices at will, especially now with the increasing
availability of cheaper generic medicines.

"If a consumer finds the drug prescribed by his doctors too
expensive, he can switch to generic medicine," he said.

As of February this year, Askes's insurance program included
employees from 1,163 companies and institutions, including the
civil service, and 162,177 individual participants. (31)