Free clinics struggle to survive amid skyrocketing medicine prices

By DMG 05 Sep 2022

DMG Newsroom
5 September 2022, Sittwe

It is becoming increasingly difficult for charity clinics that provide free medical treatment to sustain themselves over the long term due to the seemingly inexorable rise in drug prices in Myanmar.

Dr. Kyaw Zaw Thant, the physician in charge of Free Clinic Rakhine, a charity clinic in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, said that although the free clinic is operating for the moment, it will need help to buy new medicines when its current stockpiles run out.

“The prices of medicines have more than doubled from the previous prices. All the basic medicines for diabetes and hypertension went up by more than twice the previous price. We need more money and if we buy a new medicine, we will have to pay a lot more,” he said.

Dr. Khaing Lin Htay, a doctor at the Lin charity clinic in Yangon, told DMG that free clinics can only treat a limited number of patients due to the rapid rise in drug prices.

“A drug that used to cost about K500 has now more than doubled to about K1,300. Although the price of medicine has gone up, the amount of donations collected every month for our free clinic has not increased,” he explained. “When the price of medicine goes up and we don’t get more donations, we also have a lot of difficulties. We used to be able to treat an unlimited number of patients in the past, but now we can only treat a limited number of patients.”

About 75 percent of the medicines used in Myanmar are imported from India and about 25 percent are from China, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey. The prices of some medicines have increased exponentially due to fluctuations of the US dollar and other foreign currencies against the kyat, and the suspension of drug sales by pharmaceutical companies that distribute certain drugs, according to local pharmacies.

U Maung Aye Hlaing, a resident of Sittwe, said that low-income families and individuals would like to go to the hospital for treatment if they are sick, but it is becoming difficult to get medical treatment due to the increase in the price of medicine and the cost of medical treatment.

“Paracetamol, a commonly used medicine, is completely out of stock in some pharmacies, and the price is twice as expensive as before. We can’t send our children to hospitals and clinics even if they are sick,” he said.

“In the past, we could buy the medicine we wanted for about K1,000, but now we can buy the medicine with K6,000,” U Maung Aye Hlaing added.

Since the military coup in February 2021, Myanmar’s poorest have been hardest hit by price hikes and inflationary pressures affecting a wide range of goods and services, from medicines and fuel to construction materials and cooking oil.