'Covid-19 screening pricey due to rampant profiteering'

A healthcare worker handling a Covid-19 screening sample in Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. -NSTP/Mohamad Shahril Badri Saali

KUALA LUMPUR: ConsumeR groups are urging the government to set a price cap on Covid-19 screening as a move to encourage mass community testing.

They claimed that allowing healthcare facilities to set their own prices for screening had resulted in rampant profiteering.

A survey by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) found that the cost for Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (Rt-PCR) test started from as low as RM100 and could go up to RM580, while the cost for screening using the Rapid Test Kit-Antigen (RTK-Antigen) ranged from RM50 to RM350.

Fomca president Datuk Dr Marimuthu Nadason said it was high time the government standardised the cost for Covid-19 tests, similar to how the price for face masks was capped under controlled items.

"We are facing (a health) emergency, yet many irresponsible healthcare facilities are cashing in on the crisis by charging exorbitant fees for the tests.

"This profiteering must stop. The cost for RTK-Ag test should be capped at RM70 maximum," he told the New Straits Times yesterday.

Although the Rt-PCR test is considered more accurate, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had, on Jan 22, twittered that the RTK-Ag could be used as a confirmed test result if the healthcare system was overburdened.

He said the RTK-Ag test could be used when the turnaround time for Rt-PCR test was longer than 72 hours or when the Rt-PCR test was not available.

However, he said, the RTK-Ag test kit must have a sensitivity of more than 80 per cent, and the kit's specificity should exceed 97 per cent.

Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye

Alliance for Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye called on the government to place the RTK-Ag test kit as a price-controlled item to lower the screening cost.

"This will certainly come as a relief for employers, who have to pay for their employees' screening cost, especially if the employees are not Social Security Organisation (Sosco) contributors.

"Furthermore, it will encourage more people to get themselves tested, which is vital to stem community transmissions.

"Otherwise, people will hesitate to undergo screening as they would rather spend the money putting food on their table."

Lee also proposed that the government waive import duties for imported test kits as another alternative to reduce the screening cost. - NST