AMENDMENT CUTS OFF MEDICINE PRICES

Amending the decree, which came into force in 1984 to determine pharmaceutical purchase on a "cost" basis, the government showed an annual saving of $750 million. Prices were on a continual rise because they were formulated according to "company declaration" in the old system. The "reference price system" created by the Ministry of Health, based on European Union (EU) standards yielded speedy results decreasing the prices of 968 drugs by 1 to 80 percent. Zocor for instance, sold at 42 million Turkish liras (TL) in 2002, is now TL 11 million. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) Istanbul deputy Gursoy Erol initiated a motion to question the rising cost of drugs.

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