S African Pharmacists Urge Drug Price Cut

Members of the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa are in favor of a new cost structure that will reduce the prices of medicines, PSSA president Cecil Abrahamson has told the National Assembly's select committee on health.

he said it was wrong to blame pharmacists for high medicine prices, noting that they agree that drug prices are too high, and they want to be part of the solution. This is why the Society is working on a plan in conjunction with manufacturers and wholesalers. The Society represents 57% of South Africa's 10,000 pharmacists, who are an integral part of the country's health care system and must be accessible to the nation, he said. To this end, plans are underway to introduce mobile pharmacies into less accessible areas.

PSSA executive director Ivan Kotze told the committee that the Society was concerned that it had not been consulted on proposed legislation to restructure the South African Pharmaceutical Council, which regulates the profession. Concerning the new cost structure, which is to be implemented as soon as possible, mr Kotze told the Marketletter that the Society was investigating a net-pricing system, regulated distribution costs and a professional fee per prescription (not item), instead of the current market-up and discount system. This could influence medicine prices "significantly," he said.