PARAMARIBO – The chairman of the Association of Pharmacists in Suriname, Rakesh Gangaram Panday, on Monday told Times of Suriname that Health Minister Amar Ramadhin went too far with the controversial statements that he made in parliament. He made it clear that the pharmacists are furious over the minister’s statements. “The pharmacists do not like it that the minister accused them of charging extra for medicines. He could have contacted us to get the right information,” said Gangaram Panday.

Gangaram Panday pointed out that the minister made baseless accusations and that the way the payment system works is not clear to everyone. Last week Minister

Ramadhin told parliament that pharmacies are wrongfully charging additional costs for medicines that are in fact covered by the state health insurance. He also announced that he would publish a list of 271 medicines that people with state health insurance do not have to pay extra for. The list will be published so that people can check if they are wrongfully being charged extra. 

The minister revealed that he and the State Health Insurance Fund (SZF) also found out that a pharmacist had charged a person with a state health insurance card SRD 2,000 for a medication that only costs SRD 80 per month. The Association of Pharmacists explained that there are clear agreements regarding the price of medications that could be influenced by the price of foreign currency. Many of the medications and the base materials that are needed to produce certain medicines are imported. This means that the prices keep fluctuating and that the old prices are not updated on the list of the SZF.

The pharmacies ask the SZF for permission to raise the price but there requests take a while to be processed. The association made it clear that patients only pay for a medication if it is not included in the package of the health insurance provider. It urged the minister to check all the facts if things are unclear before sharing information with the nation.