Inflation drives up cost of medicines

The cost of medicine has gone up dramatically, as the value of the shilling continues to slide against the dollar.

Most patients have now resorted to under dosage, searching for cheap and substandard dugs or going without medication altogether.

An extensive check at pharmacies in Nairobi’s city centre by the Nation on Thursday indicated that the price of medicines has gone up by about 30 per cent since May.

This means if the shilling continues falling, essential medicines could be beyond reach of most families. (READ: Weak shilling wreaks havoc on economy)

Prediction in costs

The survey indicates that another increase of about 15 per cent could be affected before end of the year.

“We have never seen such a rapid increase in the prices of medicines for many years.

“Sometimes it takes up to three years to see any significant increase in most medicines,” Dr David Karanja, a pharmacist in Nairobi and the secretary to the Kenya Pharmaceutical Distributors Association, said.

In an interview on Thursday, Dr Karanja said some patients were opting to buy only what they could afford and hope to come back for the next part of the dose when they get money — a practice doctors discourage.

The former chairman of the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya, Dr Dominic Karanja, said the rise in cost of medicines was as a result of the weak shilling.

“This has pushed people to search for the cheapest medicines in the market triggering the possibility of an increase in counterfeit medicines,” he said on Thursday.

Attendants at two different pharmaceutical outlets in Nairobi said many regular customers are surprised when hit with the new prices and opt to look for lower bargains.

There are also buyers who plead for discounts or to take the medicines on credit.

According to Dr Dominic Karanja, the cost increase is also affecting locally produced medicines because drugs constitute a lot of imported raw materials.

The most affected are people with chronic illnesses, such as hypertension with drugs such as Exforge rising from about Sh6262 in June to about 8,349 today.

Rivotril for the management of epilepsy was costing about Sh572 in June but patients have to pay about Sh720 today.

However the new prices are unlikely to hit those using HIV anti-retroviral medications because, as the head of the National Aids and STD Control Programme Dr Nicholas Muraguri explained on Thursday, most are quoted and paid for in US dollars.