In a broadcast here on Friday, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that all over the world, except India, the growth of health costs per capita is exceeding the GDP rate. He noted that this is owing to select few stakeholders controlling health services and drugs in the markets.
Such one-sided pricing needs to be balanced, he said. The initiative will also benefit the healthcare industry, he opined. If healthcare becomes too costly, then the industry will no longer be sustainable, the minister explained.
The ministry, he said, is pursuing some efforts to balance prices, as outlined in the health transformation pillar concerning healthcare system resilience.
"There are two main programs in this pillar. First, which we launched the other day, is the establishment of the National Clinical Research Center (INACRC) and multiple clinical research units. The second program is this HTA," he informed.
He said that the two measures are important to ensure that people have access to affordable and good quality healthcare.
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Meanwhile, director general for pharmaceutical and medical devices at the ministry, Lucia Rizka Andalusia, said that the one-stop standardized HTA could encourage collaboration between the ministry, academics, and other stakeholders in pursuing innovative breakthroughs that allow for better access to affordable healthcare for everyone.
"Among some new innovative business processes are stakeholder-led submission, in which stakeholders like the pharmaceutical industry, medical devices manufacturers, patients' associations, health professionals, can conduct independent health technology assessment, and forward it to Health Ministry for further study," she explained.
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To follow that up, Andalusia added, the ministry has initiated the integration of value-based pricing in the assessment process, which will ensure competitive pricing that is also cost-efficient.