South Africa: A long-term cure for medicine prices

A year from now, according to Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the minister of health, South Africans should be paying nearly 33 percent less, on average, for generic and brand-name products. But dispensing doctors, whose revenue will drop by an estimated R503-million once the new medicine pricing regulations are in place, are likely to increase their consultation fees to compensate for their losses. Hospitals too, whose biggest cash cows are medicines, could increase theatre costs to reduce their losses.