There are over 300 pending applications for new pharmacies to be opened across the island and none of them have been withdrawn because of lower medicine prices, according to the government.
“This shows those interested in setting up a pharmacy are not scared of lower prices for medicines,” a spokesman for the Parliamentary Secretariat for Consumers Affairs said yesterday.
He was responding to claims by the pharmaceutical division of the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprise – GRTU that some pharmacies were on the brink of shutting down due to diminishing profits.
The government also warned that if stakeholders resisted the cuts it would push forward with “mandatory pricing” rather than by just encouraging importers to lower their prices to the EU average.
The GRTU spokesman for pharmacies, Mario Debono had called for a discussion on how to introduce a system of reimbursement in Malta, saying it was across the EU except Cyprus, where it was being discussed. He said this would mean people would get all medicines for free but the government would be able to encourage generics over branded medication and would be in a better position to control prices.
But Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said, who has spearheaded the campaign to lower prices – 129 medicines over the last six months – said the government was committed to strengthening trust between consumers and traders.
He dismissed Mr Debono’s call for a discussion on reimbursement, adding that “what applies for Malta does not necessarily apply for other EU countries and vice-versa”.
“The government has an electoral mandate to secure the reduction of medicine prices in Malta and this was also mentioned in the Budget speeches for 2010 and 2011. It is bent on reducing prices because it strongly believes this is in the general interest of consumers in Malta and Gozo,” Dr Said’s spokesman said.
“Medicines are not commodities but necessities. As such, the government believes these should be affordable to whoever might need them. Having said that, the government is not enforcing price control on medicines. It is encouraging importers and other stakeholders to reduce the prices of medicines to within the European average,” he said.
“Until now, stakeholders have been forthcoming but should their cooperation be withdrawn, the government would have no other choice but to go for mandatory pricing.”
The government denied it was focusing on branded medicines rather than generic counterparts and pointed out the Malta Medicines Authority was embarking on a nation-wide campaign, themed Know Your Medicines, to educate the public.
Meanwhile, GRTU director-general Vince Farrugia has stood by Mr Debono’s comments, saying: “The GRTU is proud of people who have the conviction to stand by what they believe in irrespective of what other who are more powerful want the weak to accept.”