South Africans are witnessing the destruction of the country’s pharmaceutical services, the United South African Pharmacies (Usap) charged on Tuesday.
The Health Department’s new medicine-pricing regulations are ”inherently flawed” and will have a ”disastrous” effect when they came into effect in January, claimed Usap chairperson Julia Solomon.
The regulations will result in the closure of most pharmacies, she said, adding that staff are already being retrenched.
”The infrastructure that has been built up over decades is disintegrating. We have no choice but to go to court to prevent a catastrophe.”
Usap, the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa and the South African Progressive Pharmacists’ Association filed an urgent Pretoria High Court application on Monday challenging the pricing regulations.
Solomon claimed it cost pharmacies more to dispense medicines than the regulations provided for.
”If we go out of business because of the new fee, it will not be due to inefficiency but insufficiency.”
Expenses are higher than estimations not through inefficiency, but because running a business is costly, especially taking into account rent and salaries.
She said 56% of pharmacy posts in the state sector are vacant with as many openings in the private sector.
Pharmacists are changing careers, retiring early or emigrating.
”Consumers will lose out in the long-run, after enjoying the temporary benefit of low prices.
”In the end, they will be faced with a very limited choice in where to get their medicines. Then it will be too late to fix the problem”, Solomon said. — Sapa