The Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) has started an investigation into the pricing of Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests in Namibia.
The Commission said the investigations commenced after it received numerous concerns from the public suggesting that the prices charged for the testing of COVID-19 at private facilities in Namibia since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic are exorbitant and may not fairly reflect the reasonable costs incurred in the procurement and administration of such tests.
The PCR tests are an acceptable standard for COVID-19 testing, especially for international travelling and hospital procedures.
Three top labs in Namibia are charging prices ranging from N$750 to as high as N$900 for a PCR test, a development which caught the ire of Ministry of Health Executive Director, Ben Nangombe.
NaCC said its investigation will also cover allegations of price fixing and collusion among private laboratories.
“It is further alleged that the uniformity in the pricing of Covid-19 testing at private facilities in Namibia suggests the possibility of existence of agreements and or concerted practices between parties in horizontal and or vertical relationships, to fix prices and or any other trading conditions. In the alternative, this uniformity further raises suspicion of there being a regulatory facilitation of collusion among competitors in the procurement, supply and administration of Covid-19 testing,” the commission said on Friday.
“The Commission is of the view that unfair and unreasonably high prices for Polymerase Chain Reaction (‘’PCR’’) and Rapid Antigen testing for Covid-19 may have adverse effects on the Namibian public.”
The concerned parties have been given an opportunity to respond to the allegations within 30 days.
The investigations by the NaCC comes after the South African Competition Commission last year found that the country’s largest private pathology laboratories, Ampath, Lancet Laboratories and Pathcare, have been earning significant profits off PCR tests.
Ampath and Lancet Laboratories however agreed to lower their prices to R500 from R850, as part of a settlement agreement with the South African Competition Commission following the damning findings that private laboratories had “exploited consumers by earning excessive profits on essential products or services.”
According a complaint lodged by the Council for Medical Schemes in South Africa, with the country’s Competition Commission in October last year, it alleged that the price of PCR tests was “unfairly inflated”, “exorbitant” and “unjustifiable”, and prices of tests have remained persistently high despite private laboratories experiencing substantial cost reductions in conducting the tests.
