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According to the report prepared by the Argentine Center of Pharmaceutical Professionals (SEPROFER) and the most updated estimates calculated from this location, In the last two months, the prices of medicines have increased by 140 percent. As a result, people make trips to pharmacies: they run away in horror when faced with the quantity, or they buy half the remedies they need and go to others in search of better prospects. The employees, for their part, update the amount almost weekly, which is why the problems multiply: the customer puts an underpriced product on the shelf and when he goes to checkout he finds a overpriced product. Buys. A strong spice is added to this cocktail: Prepaid companies will increase their installments for January, February and March, which could reach 80-85 percent in total. So many people do the math and estimate how long they will be able to pay for private therapy. Providers also dust off their calculators and estimate a flight of up to 500 thousand associates.
“It should be clarified that the prices of medicines did not remain intact; In fact, as of November 1, they were keeping pace with inflation. Its price increased by 123 percent from January 1 to October 31, 2023, and inflation till that moment was 120. In the following months, that is, during November and December, everything changed: with the latest increases they corresponded to 300 percent accumulated during the year and the annual inflation was estimated at 170, making inflation a doubling.“, They say Ruben Sagem, Director of Seprofer. And he continues to describe a phenomenon that is experienced in many of the country’s pharmacies: “Together with colleagues we try to recommend alternative brands, we talk to people, we try to make sure They do not want to leave treatment, but sometimes it becomes very difficult. Many people come in, check the prices, double their prescription, save it and leave. “We don’t know if they’re going to shop somewhere else, or if they’ll never buy.” Often, the most aggressive capitalism reveals that popular sayings are just that: sayings. Saying “health is priceless” at this point may represent a romantic longing, but it doesn’t do justice to what happens every day in the country’s pharmacies.
Cutting health is equivalent to adding a scissor edge to a fundamental human right. Perhaps like any other area, it is clearly seen that the main target of adjustment through economic control proposed by the present government on the basis of DNU is the society and not, as was anticipated, the political caste. Therefore, in mid-January, the roads become extremely hot, leave alone the cool atmosphere. Not knowing how much drugs will cost, not knowing whether a necessary treatment for a chronic disease can be continued, not knowing the future behavior of prepaid companies, presents a scenario of uncertainty on the verge of explosion. Is. And this is just the beginning.
Who can prescribe treatment
Price regulation, through agreements between the previous government and laboratories, ended on 31 October; Therefore, until that moment, the amounts were generally accompanied by inflation. However, as the agreements were finalized, an increase began to be seen from the beginning of November. ,We estimate that if we take into account only the last two months, they have increased by 140 percent. Maybe in percentages it is not very well understood, but whenever people come and go into pharmacies they are very clear about it.Sajem says.
He then continues his explanation of the specific problem that lack of access to medications can cause in patients with chronic conditions. “With over-the-counter treatments we see people push back and choose not to buy them. Regarding prescribed drugs, an antihypertensive treatment is already 70 or 100 thousand pesos per month. “Quitting it has health implications and impairs quality of life.” At the same time, it must be kept in mind that the business should not be closed even from a commercial point of view. For the system, it is far more expensive to care for a patient in intensive care than to offer treatment before they reach critical condition.
one in Recent statement, Social Work of Buenos Aires Province (IOMA) shares the following: “The liberalization of prices and the non-intervention of the national government to regulate them, added to the brutal devaluation of 118 percent, have led to the situation that social work associates who had 100% coverage in their outpatient or chronic care today For drug treatment, they have to pay sums that were unimaginable in November. In the case of drugs, as is public knowledge, During the last few months, the economy has witnessed extraordinary increase in costs, much higher than the average price increase, For example, it can be said that in the first 15 days of December 2023, the dispensing price of medicines increased by 37%. Thus, the cumulative growth in the year is 311% while according to INDEC (National Institute of Statistics and Census) the inflation in the same period collected till November is 148%.
In line with IOMA’s statement, Fabian Puratrich, former Undersecretary for Health System Integration The health portfolio, led by Carla Vizzotti, puts a magnifying glass on laboratories. ,The increase in prescription drugs widely exceeded inflation. But they did so without any justification, just look at the annual balance sheet of any laboratory. Far from it, no one was harmed,” he comments on Pagina 12. And he continues his explanation: “They are so expensive that they become unaffordable and, of course, everything falls on the public system. . “Anyone who goes to the pharmacy and can’t access the medicine looks for a public hospital to see how they can get it.”
From Puratrich’s perspective, less than a month before the inauguration, the President wants to take back the state in the region as well. Two examples in this regard: on the one hand, Extension of the 2023 budget to 2024, which will not be able to meet all needs through inflation; On the other hand, the abolition of the National Agency of Public Laboratories, in charge of promoting the public production of medicines in the various provinces.
To the pharmacy… but as an explorer
Mario lives in Buenos Aires province and regularly goes to a pharmacy in Avellaneda. For years he has been suffering from a chronic health problem which he has to treat with three medicines. Given the increases without a roof, don’t know how you’ll pay them. This is a serious problem, due to which there is special discussion in his family for many days. ,I call one pharmacy, I go to another pharmacy. I contact someone I know for a long time, but they don’t answer me. The employees are also not at fault. It’s really very difficult to know what is best when the price landscape changes every day. There will come a time when you won’t be able to pay them, and unfortunately it won’t be much longer.“, he tells.
mario You can still buy them, however, there are other patients who come in with their prescriptions, check the prices and go home with nothing. The worries that Mario warns about translate into numbers. ,Among those that have grown the most, a clear example is amoxicillin, the most commonly used antibiotic. At the beginning of November it was at 3,300 pesos and now it is available at 7,800 pesos. Within the brands of ibuprofen, syrups for children that used to cost around 3,000 pesos currently cost more than 5,500. Medicines for cholesterol control, whose monthly treatment was 15 thousand pesos, now 30 thousand”, lists Sajem. Something else that can be mentioned in this table: the price of contraceptives doubled; A digestif in drops already costs about 7 thousand pesos; An antispasmodic for gastrointestinal pain or some decongestant drops for the nose, 4 thousand; Ointments commonly used for infants reach 10 thousand; And eye drops, 5 thousand.
Rule, who frequently visits a pharmacy in Palermo, tells his case. “We have to buy the treatments anyway, especially because they are for chronic diseases. That’s why I stop buying anything for cold and try to solve it with honey tea. Everything became double or triple, much more expensive; Everything becomes so big that parameters are lost, Bonding with staff in pharmacies is important, in fact, Norma expresses this with an example: “There is a remedy for which I had a prescription and I did not buy it because I still had it left, but after talking to the pharmacist, she convinced me to buy it. He told me that it would be better for me to take it even if I don’t need it at the moment, because the price would be different the next day.,
Apart from the price of medicines, there has also been an increase in the quantity of two essential commodities, the consumption of which usually skyrockets at this time of the year. is for reference Mosquito repellent and sunscreen. As far as the former are concerned, they are important, for example, to prevent bites of Aedes aegypti (which can spread dengue) or Aedes albofasciatus (responsible for the transmission of equine encephalitis). In this case, to be able to use it you will have to spend between 3 and 8 thousand pesos (depending on its aerosol or cream formulation). Regarding protectors, their essential function is to protect the skin from sun rays and prevent diseases like cancer. Prices are variable (depending on the brands, the size of the product and the protection they offer) and mostly fluctuate between 6 and 16 thousand pesos.
These changes are ultimately the product of a very specific policy promoted by the DNU. In a previous note published by this newspaper, it is explained how, on the basis of some changes introduced in the rules – financing of low-cost public production, authorization of marketing at any point of sale – “not only” they Drug prices are low, rather they seem to be driven by the chambers of owners of the big pharmacies.”
Prepaid, Calculator and Surprise
Prepaid drug companies do the same and, without any controls due to the regulation brought about by the Miley Decree, they are given free rein to increase. In addition to the nearly 40 percent increase in January, health providers have already announced nearly 30 percent increases for February. The excuse in this case is that they have to raise fees to “maintain adequate health care service.” More importantly, the climb won’t stop until March, when the picture will be filled out by another 10 or 15 percent.
Associates, on the other hand, are notified via letter or email and accounts are prepared to let them know how long they will be able to retain payment for personal service. If all the growth planned for the first quarter of 2024 is ultimately realized, They can reach a peak of 80-85 percent. According to the final DNU, there are only two possible ways: pay what the companies request or cancel.
Similarly, these days, there are other aspects to keep in mind. Despite the increase in the amount of prepaid payments, a new phenomenon has been recorded: Doctors who decide to charge co-payments on their own, when they had not done so earlier. Obviously, growth in companies does not automatically translate into an increase in the value of services provided by professionals.
However, falling ill is far from being an option, because when the state withdraws – or neoliberal governments themselves withdraw –, the market works its usual magic: it “self-regulates”. so Only the most powerful actors remain standing and health becomes a right that can only be enjoyed by a few.
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