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Medicine fee: No deal with Manto
JOHANNESBURG – Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has refused to postpone the date for next year’s implementation of reduced dispensing fees for pharmacists, the Pharmaceutical Stakeholders’ Forum said at the weekend.
“After the close of business on Friday, the Minister of Health informed the Pharmacy Stakeholders’ Forum (PSF) of her decision not to defer the implementation date of the new dispensing fee for pharmacists,” said spokesman Anita Heyl.
A new dispensing fee of R26 was published in the Government Gazette at the beginning of December.
“We met the Director-General of Health on December 5 to inform the department of the potentially negative impact the proposed new dispensing fee would wreak on service delivery in South Africa,” Heyl said.
She added that the fee would place some community pharmacies under crippling financial strain and as many as 75% of pharmacies could close down.
Heyl said that, based on extensive information and the practical experience of its members, the PSF was “convinced that the introduction of the fee will escalate the growing crisis in pharmacies and will harm the health of the public as accessibility to medicines will be compromised.
“The Minister indicated in her letter to the PSF that the matter of deferment was also discussed with the Pricing Committee,” Heyl said.
“It seems the Pricing Committee has again failed to comprehend the realities of the present marketplace and the practicalities of providing a comprehensive quality pharmaceutical service, especially with reference to human resources, return on investment, security and rental costs.”
The current situation has already resulted in closure of pharmacies, Heyl said. Some communities were unfortunately left without adequate pharmaceutical services. – Sapa.
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