The PCR test price is adjusted to provide a fair price to the publicJakarta (ANTARA) - A spokesperson for COVID-19 Vaccination from the Health Ministry, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, echoed the Indonesian government's keenness to ensure that the public avails PCR test services at reasonable prices.
"The PCR test price is adjusted to provide a fair price to the public," Tarmizi stated on Tuesday.
As was earlier known, the government had adjusted the upper limit for PCR price in Java-Bali, from Rp495 thousand to Rp275 thousand. Meanwhile, the PCR price outside Java-Bali declined, from Rp525 thousand to Rp300 thousand.
Tarmizi explained that the government had adjusted the PCR test price from time to time to ensure that the public can get the best price.
Price adjustment for the PCR test was conducted in accordance with existing conditions.
"This included the market prices, supply, and types, which so far had reached 200 brands of reagents with varying prices," she remarked.
The PCR test was the golden standard COVID-19 test method or the most effective of other methods in the market, Tarmizi stated.
During this pandemic, access to the COVID-19 test should be easier for people to examine their health condition, she affirmed.
"Moreover, we know that many people out there refuse to test themselves during tracing," Tarmizi pointed out.
As for the booming PCR and antigen business, Tarmizi said that it was the local government's responsibility to regulate the operational permit.
She also noted that the government will impose strict sanctions on health service facilities, such as hospitals or laboratories, failing to comply with the newly adjusted PCR test price.
If laboratories are found to not comply with the new PCR test price, they will be subject to sanctions, ranging from warnings to revocation of the business licenses, Tarmizi emphasized.
In addition, results of the COVID-19 test at health facilities and laboratories, with a higher price crossing the upper limit, will not be integrated in the PeduliLindungi application, she stated.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Resinta S
Editor: Sri Haryati
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