The Department of Health will announce new medicine-price regulations on Tuesday, a departmental official said on Monday.
”We are on for tomorrow [Tuesday],” said Dr Anban Pillay, the national department’s director for pharmaceutical pricing. He said the Cabinet approved the proposal last week.
The announcement will include regulations on the dispensing fees for pharmacists, the implementation of regulations on international benchmarking, and annual medicine-price increases, following a freeze on prices since 2003. ”It’s three big issues.”
Pillay said the pricing regulations required a balance between providing affordable medicine for consumers and allowing efficient pharmacies to stay in business.
”We think we’ve achieved that balance,” he said. ”I think it’s fair. We have to remember this is done for the benefit of the patients … for an efficient pharmacy, they will survive.”
In September last year, following ongoing disputes between pharmacists and the department, the Constitutional Court ordered the department to redraft the pricing regulations.
Since then, the department has called for public input, evaluated the inputs, researched the issue and, in March, published draft regulations for comment.
”It’s going to be similar to the draft in that it has various tiers [of medicine pricing],” said Pillay. ”We conceded on some issues and not on others.”
The Regulations Relating to a Transparent Pricing System for Medicines and Scheduled Substances are made in terms of the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act. — Sapa