If no drastic measure is taken against unaffordable cancer and TB drugs, the country will be counting body bags like it was at war, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said on the day of Tuesday.
"Anybody who is desperate to sustain alive and attempts to gain treatment at current prices will end up in poverty," he stated.
Motsoaledi was presenting his budget vote in Parliament, where he bemoaned the high prices of medical care, using cancer drugs as an instance.
"Just as the price of ARVs were unaffordable then, cancer drugs are devilishly unaffordable today.
“2 years ago, I was regarded as exaggerating, or outright insane by some, when I spoke openly against pharmaceutical industries that were planning a price onslaught against us. Today, that onslaught, which I had foreseen, is here with us," he claimed.
He called for the similar solidarity that was employed to decrease the cost of ARVs, to be utilized in the fight against non-communicable diseases and drug resistant TB.
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