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KEYCODE BAYER #04

High drug prices in developing countries

Health Action International, a Malaysia-based network of non-govern-
mental organisations working for more rational and fairer health conducted a survey of retail prices of commonly used drugs in 29 developing and developed countries. One of the examined products: ADALAT by BAYER. The startling result: consumers in developing countries with low purchasing power are forced to pay higher prices for some commonly used drugs than consumers in developed countries. The guiding principle the drug industry seems to adopt in fixing prices is to set the upper limits based on the price levels the market can support.
Profit maximization is the industryïs only objective.

In countries like India where drug prices are monitored and controlled, prices are as much as fifty times lower than in other developing countries! And the companies still make their profits! So market forces can never be the answer to fair and reasonable prices. The prices for 100 tablets of BAYER’s Adalat:

Germany: $ 18

Philippines: $ 40

India: $ 2

Malaysia: $ 25

UK: $ 11

Thailand: $ 26