Half of prescription drugs cheaper as of Monday

Half of prescription drugs on sale in Belgium will be cheaper as of April 1, sometimes by as much as 70%, report Le Soir, De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad. It is the consequence of a general price decrease of 1.95% agreed by the federal government at the end of last year, acting on a proposal from health minister Laurette Onkelinx. The price drop will not always be felt by the customer, however, and will instead benefit the social security system. The price of more than 2,500 pharmacy drugs using 360 active components will decrease. All classes of drugs are affected, from treatments for chronic diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension, asthma and osteoporosis to antibiotics, vaccines and the contraceptive pill. Recognising that it is often the prices of older drugs (for which the patent has expired) that are visibly decreasing, the health minister said it was essential that “physicians play their social role by always prescribing the equivalent drugs that are the most cost-effective to the patients”.