WILLEMSTAD - The medicine supply in Curacao is in danger. This is stated by the temporary inspector of medicines of the Public Health Inspectorate in a letter to the Minister of Health, Zita Jesus-Leito.
The inspector states that the current cutbacks within the SVB of 35 million guilders will ensure in the short term that medicines are no longer available under the current system of the medicine supply in Curaçao.
SVB
According to the Inspectorate, the Social Insurance Bank (SVB focuses) on generic medicines and has set the profit margin at twenty percent. Branded medicines yield a margin of ten percent.
“This poses problems for the sector,” says temporary Inspector Peter Fontilus. "The importers of medicines are passing on the cut in margins to pharmacies, which now have nowhere to go."
“The result is that importers have put pharmacies on hold and in some cases demand cash payment from pharmacies or reduce payment terms, Fontilus writes.
Default
Pharmacists are now also in trouble and demand from the SVB payment for delivered medicines within two weeks after submitting the monthly invoice. SVB stated in a meeting that it cannot comply with this.
“It will be followed that pharmacies will default on drug wholesalers. And then patients will either have to pay cash for their medicines and later claim their money themselves from the SVB, or patients will end up without their medicines,” warns Fontilus.
Appointments
The temporary Inspector now requests from the Minister of Health to call the parties together to reach agreements that are acceptable to all of them.
