The Government sets the price of the tests at 2.94 euros from tomorrow and closes the door so that they can be purchased in supermarkets
Forced by social pressure, the Government ended yesterday with the price disparity of antigen tests. Starting tomorrow, each diagnostic test will cost 2.94 euros, after the Interministerial Commission on Drug Prices (CIPM) set a maximum price for this product, whose sales have skyrocketed during the pandemic and above all, in the last christmas. The Executive closed the door so that the tests can be purchased in supermarkets, as is the case in other countries and demanded by large stores. As now, they can only be purchased at pharmacies.
Spain will continue to have more expensive tests than surrounding countries. In Portugal, the tests cost 2.01 euros; in France, 1.75 (and free for those vaccinated); in Germany, €1.95; and in the UK they are free. Of course, Italy and Belgium will be left behind, where each test is worth between 5 and 10 euros; Ireland, 8 euros; the Netherlands, 10; and Switzerland, where they can reach up to 20 euros.
“The main objective has been to set a price that is as affordable as possible, always taking into account the necessary balance for the product to be available in the pharmaceutical channel,” argued the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, who in recent weeks has faced a unexpected crisis, with long queues at pharmacies and frustration among citizens, who had to buy each unit -when they found it- for between 5 and 10 euros.
The CIPM has established the cost of the tests based on several factors, above all, the old and new prices, filtered by the characteristics of the pharmaceutical sector.
The general director of the Common Portfolio of Services of the National Health and Pharmacy System, Patricia Lacruz, explained that the price has been calculated by averaging the prices since July, when the product was put on the market in Spain, and the prices the week before Christmas. “We have also considered the margin in the commercial framework of pharmacies and this, considering that the product is exempt from VAT, has given us an orientation,” he explained. For the General Nursing Council, the price is high “and will continue to hinder people’s access to these tests.”
initial shortage
Carolina Darias made an effort yesterday to defend herself against criticism for the absence of tests at Christmas. “The main initiative taken by the Government in the past holidays – he highlighted – was to issue authorizations to increase the number of companies authorized to market the tests from three to six, even if it was with instructions in another language.”
Thus, the minister stressed that up to 40 different brands of tests are now available in pharmacies compared to the 22 that were in November.
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