Minister Of Health Budi: Transparency Is Needed Regarding Drug Prices To Handle Expensive Prices

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin when met by the media in Jakarta, Thursday (12/12/2024). BETWEEN/Mecca Yumna

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said there needs to be transparency regarding the determination of drug prices in order to find out things that cause the high price of drugs in Indonesia to be addressed immediately.

"The price of medicine in one hospital with another is very different. Domestically," Budi said when met in Jakarta, Antara, Thursday, December 12.

He explained that transparency needs to be applied, both for generic branded drugs and innovative drugs. Budi added that these drugs, which were not paid by BPJS Kesehatan, could cost up to three to four times than those sold in neighboring countries.

According to him, there are several things that cause the high price of these drugs, including marketing and distribution. With this transparency, the issues can be known, and resolved.

Budi said there needs to be a balance between drug efficacy and business benefits so that the health care industry can be sustainable. Therefore, he said, the government took a number of steps to overcome it, such as negotiating drug prices.

Budi said that there was a review of health technology (HTA), as an effort to monitor drug innovations created.

In addition, he said, the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) is trying to speed up the drug certification process so that innovations in health services can be immediately accessed by the public. He hopes that BPOM can improve its performance related to the provision of certification and distribution permits for innovative drugs.

On the same occasion, the Head of BPOM Taruna Ikrar said that as an effort to develop innovative drugs, his party accelerated the drug certification process, from the initial 300 working days to only 90 working days.

In addition, his party also bridges collaboration between universities and industry to obtain innovative new products from research.

According to the cadets, students have good ideas, but are constrained by money. Meanwhile, it is difficult for the industry to innovate, because they always think about the business side.