On prices of medicines

On prices of medicines
17th Jan. 2007
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2007/01/17/prices-medicines.html

I am quite amused by the oblique responses to my recent letter on the high cost of medicines in Indonesia (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 7, 2006).
My letter was inspired by two letters from Townsend, in which he suggested that much of the blame for high medicine prices rests with middlemen and physicians. He gave no mention to what, if anything, the pharmaceutical industry can do to reduce the high cost of medicines.
My letter basically raised two points: First, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has been forced to print the maximum retail price of medicines on medicine packaging, be it a strip, a bottle or a box. This is obligatory in India.
And second, from the few examples I quoted, the price of branded medicines in India appeared to be five to 10 times less than in Indonesia, and very close to that of our generic medicines.
The letters responding to my letter did not touch on these factors but raised other issues not directly relevant to the matter under discussion. For example, the question of whether healthcare in India is adequate was not under discussion at all. Similarly, the quality of service and costs involved in Indonesian hospitals, or why "affluent" Indonesians prefer to travel to Singapore for treatment, are issues that are important in themselves, but divert readers' attention away from the main issue of our discussion -- the very high cost of medicines in Indonesia. The question is, will the pharmaceutical industry voluntarily review their prices and print these on medicine packaging? Other issues raised in these letters do deserve discussion, but should not be used to divert attention away from the main issue of medicine prices.
I feel very sorry when some of my Indonesian colleagues pursue ""traditional"" medicines because they simply cannot afford to buy allopathic medicines here.
K. B. KALE, Jakarta