Government Asked To Review The Price Of Rapid Test For COVID-19 Antigen

JAKARTA - Epidemiologist from Australia's Griffith University Dicky Budiman asked the government to review the price of an antigen-based rapid test for COVID-19. This request was conveyed so that more people could access this test for the success of tracking positive cases.

"In addition to talking about PCR, the government can also examine the price of our antigen, it's not expensive (current price, ed)," said Dicky when contacted by VOI, Monday, August 16.

He then gave an example in India, currently, the price of a rapid antigen test is around Rp. 90 thousand. "So also in other developed countries, the price can be 5 US dollars as well," he said.

Dicky thinks it is time for the government to conduct a new study on the price of rapid antigen tests so that positive cases of COVID-19 in the community can be found quickly.

"So this should be studied by the government to improve our testing strategy because it is important. Without this kind of test, many cases pass and eventually the burden on health facilities can be large and especially if the death rate increases in Indonesia," he said.

For information, the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) has applied the highest tariff for rapid antigen tests of Rp. 250,000 for Java Island and Rp. 275,000 for outside Java. This stipulation is contained in Circular No. HK.02.02/I/4611/2020 issued as of December 18, 2020.

As for the price of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based COVID-19 test, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has ordered Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin to lower the price to IDR 450 thousand, the lowest and the highest limit of IDR 550 thousand. This needs to be done in order to increase testing capacity in the community.

"I have spoken with the Minister of Health about this. I ask that the price of the PCR test is Rp.450-550," he said in a video uploaded by the Cabinet Secretariat, Sunday, August 15.

Not only asking to lower the price of the PCR test, the former Governor of DKI Jakarta also asked for the results of the PCR test to be submitted within 1x24 hours. "We need speed," he said.