People's thoughts on the drug crisis

JAKARTA (JP): Removed from fears of layoffs and food shortages, most of us are willing ourselves to stay healthy.

Medicines, suddenly exorbitantly expensive and hard to find, rank as a luxury item for many. What is the public's prescription for dealing with the dilemma?

Sri Hartini, a housewife and mother of three: I'm not highly educated, I don't ask questions about drugs prescribed by my doctor ... If I ask any questions, it's only about how many times a day it should be taken.

I can stand being sick without seeing a doctor due to my limited family budget, but it is not the same for my children. I cannot see them suffer without taking them to the doctor, even though it will cost me more.

But I wonder why drug prices keep increasing day after day. It makes it difficult for me to set a budget for my children's health care.

Darwis, an employee of a pharmacy in Blok M, South Jakarta: I closely watch the steady increase of drug prices, especially patented drugs. It seems like distributors can raise drugs prices any time they like, without understanding that it will be difficult for our store to sell it.

The number of my store's customers has sharply decreased lately.

Previously, our store was open until 9 p.m., but after no customers came after 6 p.m. for two consecutive weeks, the store owner decided to close at 7 p.m.

My only fear now is about losing my job here ...

Harry Sutikno, a university student: I understand that the government is busy putting the economy back in order, but I still cannot understand why it has failed to control drug prices.

It is amazing why this country, with plenty of natural resources, still has to import materials to produce drugs.

If the government made preparations by encouraging the production of drugs here a long time ago, people would not have to suffer from high drug prices today.

Supriadi, a taxi driver and father of two: Every time I go to see a doctor now, I always tell him that I am only a taxi driver and I have a wife and two small children to feed. I do this to prevent him from prescribing expensive drugs for me.

Once I had to pay more than Rp 200,000 for a prescription. I was stunned by the amount, and I had to borrow money from my relatives to be able to pay for it. I could not just refuse to pay for the drugs because they were for my sick daughter. Now, I won't let the same thing happen again.

Aswandi Akbar, drug salesman: It is hard lately for my distributor to provide drugs as requested by privately owned pharmacies or drugstores.

It is untrue what some people think that distributors are stashing drug supplies, or increasing prices whenever we want.

Drug prices are set by the government and the manufacturers.

And, at present, we don't have enough supplies from the manufacturers. Our current supplies may only last for several months.

According to my superior, most manufacturers now prioritize drug supplies for hospitals and community health centers. The manufacturers cannot produce more drugs because of the shortage of raw materials to produce them.

Sutarjo, a nasi goreng (fried rice) vendor: Whenever my family and I get sick, we always go to a community health center close to our home. I pay just Rp 500 for the treatment and the drugs there.

For a man with an income like mine, it is almost impossible to see a private practitioner, who has an expensive service charge and prescribes expensive drugs.

My neighbor, who only visits a private practitioner, said that he paid Rp 35,000 for the doctor's treatment and Rp 85,000 more for the drugs. Where I can get that amount of money in a day? Even if I can sell all of my fried rice, my profit is still low. (ste)