Cheaper medicine on the cards
2003-10-13 21:20
Cape Town - Private patients in South Africa could pay much less for medicine as soon as May next year.
If South Africa's first committee to regulate the price of medicine has its way, strict guidelines will be put in place to control medicine prices in the private sector for the first time.
Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, appointed the committee in August this year to review the existing framework for medicine prices.
The committee is expected to report its findings to the minister within the next few months and, should the recommendations be accepted, these could be implemented by May next year.
Professor Diane McIntyre, chairperson of the committee, said her group would focus on creating a more transparent system for the pricing of medicine. "At the moment, there are virtually no rules regulating medicine prices."
The committee has to ensure that manufacturers charge a single exit price for medicines and scheduled substances when these leave the factories. They should also agree on an appropriate fee that wholesalers and distributors might levy.
Finally, the committee would have to decide on an appropriate fee for pharmacists, dispensing doctors and other dispensers.
McIntyre said the new Medicine's Control Act makes it illegal for manufacturers to charge different prices for the same product.
"At present, there is as much as a 60% difference in the price different retailers pay for the same product. Those who buy in bulk, get the biggest discounts from manufacturers.
"Small pharmacies and people in rural areas suffer most because of these price differences," she said.
McIntyre said other victims of this system were patients without medical aid cover and patients taking chronic medication.
"One cannot choose whether one wants to take medicine or not. It is very important that medicine prices are regulated."
She said most developed countries had strict laws governing the price of medicine and that South African medicine prices were much higher than those overseas.
Send e-mail to the reporter at wbrummer@dieburger.com