Argentina's ministry of commerce (MoC) has been criticised by some parts of the healthcare industry for putting off the implementation of a medicine price freeze announced a month ago.
Implications | The Ministry of Commerce has presented a list of medicines to have their prices frozen but full implementation has been held up by opposition from the main representatives of Argentina's pharmaceutical industry. |
Outlook | Despite delays to implementing the price freeze, the MoC will probably implement this measure before year-end, given that some recent medicine price rises have exceeded the ministry's 5% cap. |
Argentina's Ministry of Commerce (MoC) has been criticised by parts of the healthcare industry for delaying the implementation of a medicine price freeze announced a month ago, reports the Argentinean newspaper Info Region. According to the source, the MoC has presented a list of medicines to have their prices frozen until December but has struggled to fully implement the initiative amid opposition from the main representatives of the pharmaceutical industry in Argentina: the Industrial Chamber of Argentine Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Cilfa), the Argentina Chamber of Medical Specialities (Caeme), and the Business Chamber of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Cooperala).
The list of drugs initially published by the MoC for its price freeze plan includes about 138 active ingredients. A draft list of medicines likely to be covered can be accessed here (see Argentina: 2 August 2016: Argentine government releases new details on medicine price freeze plan, around 138 drugs to be included).
According to Info Region, a main reason for delaying the implementation of this pricing control measure is its likely negative impact on the pharmaceutical industry base in Argentina and the risk of medicine shortages if the industry slows down production.
Outlook and implications
As IHS pointed out when this measure was announced, the challenging situation the pharmaceutical industry has faced in Argentina in recent years could hinder the introduction of a new price freeze (see Argentina: 2 August 2016: Argentine government releases new details on medicine price freeze plan, around 138 drugs to be included). The MoC has previously imposed price freezes. In June 2014, the ministry published a resolution ordering the pharmaceutical industry to reduce medicine prices to the level recorded on 7 May that year and to maintain these prices for 60 days (see Argentina: 25 June 2014: Argentine government promulgates price-reduction resolution in medicines).
Despite the delay in introducing the price curb, the MoC will probably implement this measure before year-end. The ministry's decision to freeze prices came after the some drugs' prices increased by more than 10%, contravening the ministry's ruling that price rises should not exceed 5% (see Argentina: 17 March 2016: Survey shows medicine prices increase on average by 15.76% in Argentina and Argentina: 4 February 2016: Argentina's MoC agrees to 5% medicine price reduction).
Once prices are under control, the government aims to end such programmes and foster greater competition in the pharmaceutical sector through measures such as generic medicine legislation. The pricing control measure will create savings for the Ministry of Health that are likely to be reinvested in recently announced healthcare reforms, which include introducing a Cobertura Universal de Salud (CUS), or universal healthcare system, to cater for 15 million people currently without access to care (see Argentina: 22 August 2016: Argentine government publishes further details on healthcare system reform, proposes HTA agency).