Today and Tomorrow - Profiting from the Pandemic : Ramesh Shrestha

Profiting from pandemic

The unregulated pricing of PCR tests is exploiting the public even during this covid-19 pandemic situation. It is unconscionable that some should be making profit even during a global crisis. It is yet another cruel example of health service morphing into the health industry in the name of the present-day free market economy. What has become of our humanity?

Cost of PCR test

From all available scientific information covid-19 is here to stay and so is the requirement of the proof of negative covid-19 test results for visiting public places, businesses and all international travels, at least in the foreseeable future.

Mandatory testing for covid-19 is not a problem but the cost of testing is. Publicly conducted tests are free which are meant for people with covid-19 symptoms but for non-symptomatic people it involves a cost. In many countries all tests for non-symptomatic tests are conducted by private firms. In one country X for example, one News company reported 15 such companies offering PCR tests with price ranging from $160 to $400 per test, with one company charging $1198 per test for travellers. It is not clear how many companies are offering PCR testing services as the government has not introduced a tracking system. It also raises the issue of licensing for the test. This situation may be true in other countries too.

Cost of PCR test kit & labour cost

The cost of the PCR test kit is a standard cost. In one industrialised country A, you can buy 13 different test kits with prices ranging from $ 7. To $ 195. How can there be such a price range for one standard test kit using saliva or a nasal swab?

In developed countries the staff (labour) cost and laboratory analysis costs are higher than in developing countries hence the overall cost of tests will be higher. The uncontrolled cost of kits and the laboratory analysis cost is making the PCR test cost diverse and very expensive.

An important issue here is who is benefiting from this high cost of PCR test? It is certainly not the government. The governments perhaps benefit just from taxes where taxes are imposed such as 20% tax imposed in the UK on all tests. COVID-19 is a significant health issue with global implications yet, it has become a cash vending machine for the private sector. This unregulated pricing is exploiting the public even during a pandemic situation. Lack of pricing regulation from the concerned governments and the public simply accepting this exploitative behaviour is difficult to explain. It is the latest example of health service morphing in to a health industry!

International travellers

In 2019 some 1.5 billion people travelled outside their countries. People travelling internationally declined since the pandemic but according to the world tourism organisation international travel will eventually bounce back by 2024.

At the moment travellers are required to show proof of a negative PCR test prior to boarding an aeroplane and the traveller has to undergo another PCR test upon arrival in most destinations. A negative PCR test result prior to boarding an international flight may remain as a universal requirement for years to come.

PCR tests for travellers

A private research company conducted a pricing study covering 77 airports in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. There is a difference of $396 between the cheapest and the most expensive tests. Kansai airport in Japan being the most expensive where the test costs $404 compared to $8 at Mumbai airport in India. One interesting observation is the variation in prices in different airports within the same country. In the USA for example the cost of PCR tests range between $ 106 to $ 261. In Japan the four airports included in the study have four prices: $404, $260, $250 and $20. In the UK it ranges between $82 to $135. In Germany it ranges between $80 to $150. Russia has the least differential cost ranging between $22 to $30.

If we are serious in controlling pandemics, reviving the economy and supporting international travel to bring back the tourism industry, the PCR test must be made affordable. It is unconscionable that even during this global pandemic situation some should be making profit. What has become of our humanity? Money is important but it is not everything.

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