The Commerce Commission is now hoping that with the price control set for basic essential pharmaceutical products, life will become much easier for the low income households.
The commission has decided that the prices of 75 basic essential pharmaceutical products will be reduced by an average of thirty percent from the 21st of this month due to high drug prices.
Chairman, Doctor Mahendra Reddy said the problem was further compounded when one notes that there is some degree of collusion between doctors and pharmacies where doctors only prescribe a brand of drug which is available in the pharmacy that they are connected with rather than prescribing a much cheaper drug.
Doctor Reddy said they have brought down the prices of medicine on an average by 30 percent, but he said it still gives a reasonable rate of return to the pharmacies.
He said the government has also taken a major step in bringing prices, as it will undertake bulk buying of essential drugs which will then be wholesaled to pharmacies.
The prices of 75 basic essential pharmaceutical products will be reduced by an average of thirty percent from the 21st of this month.
Dr Mahendra Reddy said the basic medication range from Paracetamol, Amoxycillin, Tylenol, Aspirin and several other types of medicine however lifestyle drugs will not be under the price control.
He said the new prices will come into effect from next Friday to give the government time to supply the drugs to the pharmacies around the country.
Dr Reddy added the prices will differ in Viti Levu and Vanua Levu due to the freight costs.
Commerce Minister, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said 70 percent of the drugs will be sourced from the Government Pharmacy.
Sayed-Khaiyum said Pharmacies will have to display the basic drugs on price control for the public and he is seeking the assistance of doctors and pharmacies to be transparent with the consumers.
Meanwhile the President of the Fiji Pharmaceutical Society Ajay Raniga has welcomed the move.
Serious concerns were raised in relation to medicine prices late last year after a Consumer Council of Fiji survey revealed that some pharmacies in the country are imposing mark-ups as high as 460 percent.
The key finding in price analysis for individual medication showed that 30 out of the 47 pharmacies surveyed charged higher prices for the same brand of medicine.
Mark-ups ranging from 95 percent to more than 400 percent were noticed in the survey for several types of basic medication used by members of the public.
Some of the problems noted in the survey were pharmacies not disclosing prices of individual medicines, violation of labeling requirements for medicines set by the Ministry of Health, problems with receipts and not informing consumers on choice over the generic and originator brand medications.
It was also discovered that some pharmacies were selling the generic at the same price as the originator brands.
There was also an allegation in the survey report of dispensing medications in wrong dosage and being involved in fraudulent sale.
The call has already been made or effective enforcement of the laws due to a lack of knowledge on medication as majority of the consumers place complete trust in the pharmacies when they go to purchase their medicine.
Story by: Vijay Narayan & Sofaia Koroitanoa
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