Oh well done department of health, although your huge increase in the amount of 5.2% comes far too late for the many pharmacies that had to close as a direct result of your dictatorial ways. What of them?
In a country where the entrepreneur is expected to grow the economy, it was very sad to see huge companies like Clicks and Dischem take over and corner the market. The little 'man on the street corner pharmacy' is now something of the past. Many people lost their livlihood and their staff are now unemployed, thank you to the department of health and their 'bright spark ideas'! Well done! I guess a few more unemployed in the grand scheme of things is not a big problem for you - yeah right!
Absolutely disgusting!
Jillian Green January 30 2007 at 05:02AM
Consumers will now pay more for their medicines when they visit their local pharmacies. This comes as the department of health announced a 5.2-percent increase in the price that pharmaceutical manufacturers will charge pharmacists for medicines. The increase means that consumers buying anything from birth control pills to bipolar disorder medication will be paying more for their medication.
The single exit price (SEP) increase is the first in three years. The SEP is the price at which manufacturers sell their products to pharmacists and the standard price from which pharmacists work out their dispensing fees. A total of 27 pharmaceutical manufacturers have been given the green light by the department to increase the prices of certain drugs in their stables. A full list of all the drugs affected by the increases is available on the department's website.
Muhammad Bodhania, the chairperson of the National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, welcomed the increase in that it "provided some level of release" in the business. "We have not increased our prices for three years, while inflation has increased and the rand has weakened against the dollar. We have been absorbing a lot of the pressure," he said.
Muhammad Bodhania, the chairperson of the National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, welcomed the increase in that it "provided some level of release" in the business. "We have not increased our prices for three years, while inflation has increased and the rand has weakened against the dollar. We have been absorbing a lot of the pressure," he said.
Bodhania said the association still had to "check whether the increase was adequate" but added that they had not received any complaints from their members as yet. In real terms, the manufacturers' price increase means a consumer who usually spent just over R70 on Marvelon tablets for the month can now expect to pay in the region of R75. This will apply if the pharmacy that supplies their drugs is using the department's dispensing fee model.
If the pharmacy is not using the department's model, consumers could find themselves digging deeper into their pockets. According to the department's new tiered dispensing fee structure, for medicines with SEPs of less than R75, pharmacists can charge a dispensing fee of 33 percent of the SEP plus R4; a dispensing fee of R25 plus six percent of the SEP for medicines with a SEP of between R75 and R250; a fee of R33 plus three percent of the SEP for medicines between R250 and R1 000; and an extra R50 plus 1,5 percent of the SEP when the SEP is more than
R1000.
Dr Anban Pillay, the department's head of pharmaceutical planning, said the department was compelled to increase the pharmaceutical manufacturers' prices year-on-year, taking into account inflation and the rand-dollar exchange rate. "But this has not happened over the past three years," he said.
This article was originally published on page 3 of The Star on January 30, 2007
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