Antara, Jakarta – Professor of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia (FKUI), Professor Tjandra Yoga Aditama, said that Indonesia needs to follow up on India's success in facilitating affordable prices for medicines and medical devices for the public.
He responded to the bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and India in the health sector through the courtesy visit of President Prabowo Subianto in the context of the 76th Republic Day of India.
"Indonesia needs to follow up on the low prices of medicines and medical devices in India," said the health expert, Sunday, January 26, 2025.
Tjandra shared his experience while serving as Director of Infectious Diseases for WHO Southeast Asia in India in 2015-2020. While living there, he routinely consumed medicines purchased in New Delhi to maintain his health, including controlling cholesterol and blood pressure. In addition, many doctor and professor friends in Indonesia asked him for medicines.
Comparison of drug prices
His experience shows that the quality of medicines in India is guaranteed to be good and effective in maintaining health. The following is a comparison of the prices of medicines consumed by Tjandra in Jakarta and India, which shows a significant price difference. For example, Atorvastatin 20 mg in Jakarta reaches Rp6,160 per tablet while in India it is only Rp1,000 or six times cheaper.
Then Clopidogrel 75 mg, in Jakarta is priced at Rp7,835 per tablet while in India it is only Rp1,540 or five times cheaper. For Telmisartan 40 mg the price in Jakarta is Rp5,198 while in India it is only Rp1,500. The hypertension drug Concor 2.5 mg in Jakarta is priced at Rp10,711 and in India it is only Rp1,560 per tablet.
"So, for this drug the price in Jakarta is on average six times higher than the price in New Delhi," he explained.
He said that all drug packaging in any city in India always includes market price information that is easily accessible to the public. "So, if we want to buy it in any city in India, the price is exactly the same and of course it is tightly controlled by the government. This is a good example if it can also be applied in our country," Tjandra suggested.
The high price of not only medicine but also medical devices, which has an impact on more expensive health service rates. "We are waiting for concrete steps to be taken by the government so that the medicine that our people consume can be much cheaper, just like the Indian people enjoy," he said.