[Updated] Health-e News, Code4SA launch new medicines pricing app
Created by the non-profit Code4SA, the new app uses the latest single exit prices for medicines to let you see if you are paying too much for medication.
In 2004, the government introduced a single exit price mechanism for medicines to put a stop to discounts and additional levies on medicines. The mechanism now lists the maximum price for most medicines. However, dispensers may charge an additional dispensing fee depending on the price of the medicine.
Using the latest single exit prices, our new free app allows you to check what price you should be paying for your prescriptions – and whether cheaper generics are available. Once you know if a generic option exists, you can ask your doctor whether the generic medication is right for you.
This new features is part of our recently re-designed website. Have feedback on our new look? You can let us know by emailing editor(at)health-e.org.za
[Updated 19 February 9:32am: Health-e News would like to thank readers who have pointed out that the single exit prices used in the app are in fact not the most recent figures. Health-e News and Code4SA regret the error and are working to amend the app. In the meantime, prices given by the app should be considered an approximation.]
[Updated 2 March 8:31am: Code4SA and Health-e News have now updated the prices featured in the application. We are grateful to University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine pharmacist and senior lecturer Andy Gray for his assistance in this matter.]
Author
Republish this article
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Unless otherwise noted, you can republish our articles for free under a Creative Commons license. Here’s what you need to know:
-
You have to credit Health-e News. In the byline, we prefer “Author Name, Publication.” At the top of the text of your story, include a line that reads: “This story was originally published by Health-e News.” You must link the word “Health-e News” to the original URL of the story.
-
You must include all of the links from our story, including our newsletter sign up link.
-
If you use canonical metadata, please use the Health-e News URL. For more information about canonical metadata, click here.
-
You can’t edit our material, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style. (For example, “yesterday” can be changed to “last week”)
-
You have no rights to sell, license, syndicate, or otherwise represent yourself as the authorized owner of our material to any third parties. This means that you cannot actively publish or submit our work for syndication to third party platforms or apps like Apple News or Google News. Health-e News understands that publishers cannot fully control when certain third parties automatically summarise or crawl content from publishers’ own sites.
-
You can’t republish our material wholesale, or automatically; you need to select stories to be republished individually.
-
If you share republished stories on social media, we’d appreciate being tagged in your posts. You can find us on Twitter @HealthENews, Instagram @healthenews, and Facebook Health-e News Service.
You can grab HTML code for our stories easily. Click on the Creative Commons logo on our stories. You’ll find it with the other share buttons.
If you have any other questions, contact info@health-e.org.za.
[Updated] Health-e News, Code4SA launch new medicines pricing app
by healthe, Health-e News
March 2, 2015