While the government and the Healthcare section of the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise continue to blame each other for the rising price of medicines and a reduction in the number of products on the market, the Maltese consumers still have to pay exorbitant prices for indispensable items.

During a recent parliamentary sitting, the health minister was reported as saying that the price of some products had increased by 10 per cent, others by as much as 50 per cent. Even if the price had increased by only five per cent, the consumer will always be the first to suffer.

The healthcare section of the Chamber is blaming the government (and EU membership) for the current situation. The Chamber said that the need to register medicinal products – at a cost – and other induced expenditure had forced the price of medicines to go up. There are other issues, the Chamber said, that had led to prices going up and not, as the government is claiming, because they had formed cartels to maintain high prices.

The government, on the other hand, has denied that the application of EU directives had led to prices going up. The government is claiming that the cost to register medicines was not excessive at Lm50 and, even more worrying if the government is right, importers are only bringing in high priced medicines to increase their profit margins.

Who is right? Without going into the merits of the case and the arguments made by both parties – the government and the Chamber do make some valid points – the reality is that the consumer is suffering. The price of a box of pills that has gone up by 30 per cent, for instance, is not reflected in a similar increase in a family’s income. If you need a particular medicine to treat a condition, you have to pay for it, even if the price has gone up three times in the last two months.

The availability, or not, of certain low-cost generic medicines, which are no longer imported, is also unfair on many people who may opt for the cheaper brand because they can’t afford to spend nearly double on a branded product.

This is a serious issue; the government and the Chamber may not be seeing eye to eye on this matter, but the government’s first duty is to protect the taxpaying citizen. Importers also have a right to make a profit – a decent profit – but certainly not at the expense of the public that, in many cases, has no other option but to pay a lot of money.

While pharmaceutical importers focus all their attention on their profit margins, the government cannot simply ignore the wider picture. You have to agree that importers are justified in calling on the government to settle its debts with them – Lm12 million is no small sum of money. However, the chamber must also look beyond the needs of one section of its members.

The rising cost of medicines also has a negative effect on inflation in Malta. And inflation, at three per cent in April, is well above the benchmark for countries wanting to adopt the euro currency. If inflation continues to rise – and the cost of medicines is one factor that is pushing the rate upwards – then Malta’s prospects of entering the euro on the projected date of January 1, 2008 could be threatened.

The repercussions of Malta missing the bus because of inflation are not to be underestimated. It means another two-year stint as ERM II members while the country will be missing out on many benefits that the adoption of the euro will bring about.

The issue has to be settled once and for all. The government has to safeguard the public’s interests, especially if the market is creating a situation that is unfair on the consumer. The faster this matter is resolved the better. There is too much at risk and the overall picture is much more complex and worrying that the chamber is willing to admit.