"Polri has monitored the online trading activities of antibiotics," Indonesian Police’s spokesman, Insp. Gen. Argo Yuwono, noted in a statement here on Monday.
It also closely observed the distribution of drugs from its manufacturers.
Yuwono remarked that the effort is aimed at avoiding stockpiling of drugs and preventing the prices from rising steeply, higher than the government-set ceiling price.
"Today, we are monitoring distribution from its plants," he noted.
Related news: Government ensures availability of medicines amid COVID-19 pandemic
Yuwono stressed that in a bid to ensure the availability of drugs for COVID-19 patients, the police will take stern measures against those found hoarding the medicines and selling them at higher prices.
Public complaints have arisen on the steep price of Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug believed to cure COVID-19, soaring from only Rp30 thousand to Rp300 thousand.
Police Chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo has issued a telegram on law enforcement during the imposition of emergency public activities restriction (PPKM) in Java and Bali.
The telegram encompasses monitoring on the ceiling price of drugs and healthcare products during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The letter was addressed to all regional police chiefs across the country. Related news: COVID surge: SOE Minister assures of availability of antiviral drugs
Translator: Laily Rahmawaty, Sri Haryati
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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