Low income earners pay high drug prices

Low income earners pay high drug prices

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Sukmawaty, 55, was in pain while preparing meals for last
week's Islamic Day of Sacrifice because she could not take the
medicine needed to control her diabetes.

She said that for the past two months, she had been unable to
afford to buy the medicine prescribed by her doctor because it
was too expensive even for the generic variety.

"I don't have the money to buy the medicine as often as I
should, especially if I have to buy it at a dispensary. It's too
costly," said the widow, who is supported by her children.

Sumawaty is one of those who should have stood to gain from a
Ministry of Health circular instructing pharmaceutical firms to
review their prices to make them more affordable to the public.
But a consumer group said that the companies had not heeded the
demand, insisting that pricing for medicine should not be
regulated by the government, but should be decided by market
forces.

Wita, 24, a recent graduate from the University of Indonesia
was irked by the high prices. "Medicine is too expensive!" she
said, in a raised tone.

She said that since her father had an accident and suffered a
broken leg, 10 percent of her family income had to be allocated
to buy his medicine. And even though they had Askes health
insurance from the government, medical expenses were still a
heavy burden.

"My family's income is about Rp 3 million (about SU$326) a
month, while the medicine costs Rp 300,000 a month. That's the
cost after being subsidized by Askes, you could imagine how
expensive the full price is," said Wita.

Sukmawaty, Wita and many others like them may be in for
another shock as medicine prices had started to increase again
this month.

Prices of several products at Pasar Pramuka market in Central
Jakarta, which is known as a low-priced area for medicine, have
recently increased.

Afryana, an owner of a retail store in the market, said that
prices had increased after several products went missing from the
market.

"In late December and early January, medicine for diarrhea and
antibiotics disappeared, because a huge amount of it was
distributed to disaster victims in Aceh. But when it finally
became available, the prices had gone up," she said.

She also said that the prices of medicine for influenza and
headaches had started to increase as well.

"Influenza medicine has a new price today. The increase is
around 10-20 percent," said Afryana, who opened her store two
months ago.

Ucok, a hawker at Jatinegara market in East Jakarta, also said
that prices of prescribed medicines have gradually started to
increase recently.

But he said that prices of some generic medicines had been
going down.

Marius Widjajarta, chairman of the Indonesian Health
Consumer's Empowerment Foundation (YPKKI) said in a seminar last
week that prices of medicines in the country were unbelievably
expensive.

"In other countries, electronics are the most expensive
consumer goods. But here in Indonesia, medicine is the most
expensive," he said. (006)