WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2004-01-16 Posted By: Jan
From the News Archives of: WWW.AfricanCrisis.Org
Date & Time Posted: 1/16/2004 5:15:38 AM
S.Africa: medicine prices to be slashed by 50%
[Note. I’m sure this is going to be a great election coup for the ANC. The rationale behind this is the ANC’s socialism. The ANC, like all Marxists, are always whining about “profiteering”. Well, without PROFITS, nobody would invest in anything, and without profits nothing can MOVE FORWARD AND GROW!! Kill profits, and you kill all entrepreneurship, growth, motivation, etc. So the ANC, Yippeee, is finally going to force companies to slash medicine prices (especially for AIDS sufferers). But here’s my question: How can they do this? And what will the long term effects be? Will we get SUB-STANDARD MEDICINES in this country? People talk a lot about generic medicines, but my mother, for example, is on blood pressure tablets. A doctor put her on generics to save money. Boy did she have problems as a result, and he had to get her back on to the original stuff. It took my mother months to come right and for her blood pressure to stabilise. So I feel that medicines, like anything else, you get what you pay for. If you want to pay peanuts, expect them to sell you junk. I just hope the ANC’s stupid socialism in this area doesn’t once more bring about a collapse of a very important part of our lives. Jan]
South Africa will announce draft regulations on Friday that aim to slash medicine prices by up to 70%, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said in Pretoria on Thursday.
Cheap medicines are a burning issue in South Africa where about 5,3-million in a population of 44,8-million are infected with HIV or Aids, a higher number than any other country.
The minister told a news conference on Thursday that the regulations on transparent pricing had been delayed by four years due to legal action by pharmaceutical companies.
The draft regulations will give the pharmaceutical industry three months to comment before the government enforces them through legislation in May, she said.
“When these regulations are fully implemented, the price of medicines to consumers would be between 40% and 70% lower than the current levels,” the minister said.
“Our research has indicated that formally listed manufacturers’ net price of medicines has been inflated to allow for the impact of a complex system of bonuses, rebates and other incentive schemes within the pharmaceutical industry.
“This incentive system allows hospital groups, pharmacy groups and other major outlets to obtain medicines at prices about 50% below the manufacturers’ net prices,” she said.
“Due to complex mark-ups in the distribution chain, the consumer seldom benefits from this incentive system.”
The new regulations will ban the supply of medicine through these incentive schemes and permit the single exit price of medicine to be set at no higher than 50% of the present listed price.
Recently, the South African government announced that more than R320-million has been allocated for the rest of the fiscal year — until March 31 — to fight HIV/Aids, and that it would supply anti-retroviral drugs, after tremendous pressure from lobby groups that it was ignoring the pandemic. — AFP
Source: Daily Mail & Guardian
ULR: http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=29706br>