THERE was a short debate is early May 2006 on medicines being sold at exorbitant prices. A leading English daily reported some finding of a survey on medicine price in this country and noted that doctors were charging high price for some common but essential medicines.
Despite the fact that this was an important issue, the debate was short lived, giving rise to the conclusion, albeit erroneous, that Malaysian were either unaware of the high cost of medicines or that they believe that they were not being shortchanged. One has to consider this in the light of the prevailing healthcare system practiced here.
In this country, healthcare is highly subsidized. In fact, the public sector handle about 80% of all in-patients and the charges in this sector are very minimal and non-payment doesn’t preclude one from treatment. In most cases, recovery of payment is an onerous task. In the private sector, healthcare payment are either through private insurance or subsidised by the company. There is also social security health coverage in case of accidents, illnesses or disabilities sustained at the workplace. Government servants and those working for statutory bodies get free treatment in the public sector and is the services are unavailable in the public sector than their employers cover the costs in the private sector.
Out-of-pocket payment is the norm among the self-employed and those who opt for private treatment on an outpatient basis. There are some who still pay out-of-pocket for in-patient treatment and most often they are affluent.
In short, because of the subsidies, Malaysians are not only complacent but also not sufficiently sensitised to high drug price.
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