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)