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Spare the sick, please

MARKET exploitation is a common enough phenomenon, to which all of us are exposed time and again. The recent hike in prices of essential commodities following the increase in salaries of government employees is a case in point to illustrate how unscrupulous dealers exploit every situation that throws up an opportunity.

However, when pharmacies resort to devious methods to up their profits, it really is a matter of concern, something that the authorities need to address far more seriously and urgently than other market issues.

A recent study conducted by the General Authority for Health Services (GAHS) on drug pricing in the UAE in general, and Abu Dhabi in particular, has come up with some startling revelations. According to the study, 300 pharmacies, taken as the sample size for the survey, had enough and more stocks of expensive medicines while the cheaper drugs were not that easily available of the shelf.

That the doctors may also be hand in glove with the pharmacies is revealed by the fact that doctors rarely prescribe medicines, which are priced below Dh50, and the pharmacies too do not stock such medicines. Brand-exclusive medicines in Abu Dhabi cost a whopping 16 per cent more than any other place on earth, and generic medicines are not far behind, prices almost 15 per cent higher than the international prices.

The government's efforts to discourage patients from seeking medical facilities abroad would come to a nought if they do not set right the price mechanism back home. And for starters, they can work out remedial measures to check the high margin of 25 per cent offered to pharmacies. Obviously, the pharmacies believe more in low volumes of sales and high margins rather than high volumes and low margin of profit.