Leave the PBS alone – Cross
October 17, 2011
ALPHAPHARM ceo Martin Cross
has urged the government to “stop
continually reforming the
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme”
in order to allow the growth and
prosperity of the Australian
medicines industry.
In an opinion piece in today’s
Financial Review, Cross argues that
the pharmaceutical sector has been
the leading Australian manufacturing
export industry over the last three
years, employing over 14,000
people and contributing $4 billion
to the trade balance.
“Despite this growth potential,
the Australian medicines industry
faces the threat of demise,” he said.
“Through the PBS, the
government is the largest buyer of
medicines... but its overly zealous
cost-cutting, with scant regard for
the value for money delivered by
the PBS, threatens the viability of
what is arguably the world’s best
medicines reimbursement scheme”.
He contrasted the government’s
“neglect” of the medicines industry
with the approach in Singapore,
where officials have offered a range
of initiatives to attract foreign
investment and nurture the sector.
This has seen pharmaceutical jobs
in Singapore double, along with a
tripling of manufacturing output.
Cross said that the rigorous
approval process for PBS listings
makes it the “most cost effective
part of the whole health system,”
with the savings boosted by the
absence of CPI increases to the
prices of medicines along with
generic competition.
“Policymakers may assume that
the industry will stick around, but
the medicines industry - especially
the generics sector - has little
incentive to do so,” he concluded.
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