The inflation It did not give rest and rose again this month in August, amounting to 2.6%. But the price increase is not only seen in food and fuel, but other types of basic products such as many medicines have also increased in the past months, although not at the same rate. So, The Consumer Price Index for drugs and therapeutic materials has increased by 1.2% so far this year, a figure that stands at 1.4% since August 2022 according to the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
This means it registered its highest price since April 2014 for the second month in a row. And since the beginning of 2023, the index of pharmaceutical products has not stopped growing. Only in June there was a slight drop to 1.2%, to rebound again in July to 1.4%, a point where the maximum repeated this August was reached.
Non-prescription drugs and parapharmacies, the ones that increase
“Many users who go to the pharmacy are surprised, because Everything is improving, especially over-the-counter drugs and parapharmacy products“, confirmed a pharmacist from the center of Madrid to 65YMÁS. And according to experts, drugs subject to medical prescription – such as Nolotil, Adiro or Sintrom – have prices set by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) and In fact, they decreased last year with the Government’s update.
However, the price of over-the-counter drugs, natural products or dietary supplements (Consumer Health) maintaining an interannual growth of 5% in the month of July, continuing the trend that started last March. This is reflected in the latest Spanish Pharmaceutical Market Trends Report from specialist consulting firm Iqvia (@IQVIA_Spain) in its analysis of these pharmaceutical products, which however excludes advertised drugs, COVID-19 categories and reimbursed markets. In the end, they too were resurrected parapharmacy products like shampoo, gel or pills to sleep, their price is also free and depends on each pharmacy or manufacturer.
Interannual evolution of the average price of the top 100 market references Consumer Health and comparing the evolution of the CPI
More expensive flu medications and dietary supplements
The truth is that the Spaniards aged 18 to 75 spent an average of 18 euros per month on medicines in 2018, according to OCU, a number that increases in the case of the elderly, so they will notice the increase more. As flu season approaches and other Covid infections increase, Medicines to temporarily relieve your symptoms are more expensive this year. Therefore, paracetamol-based products such as Frenadol (10 sachets) will cost around 11 euros this year, Rhinospray Eucalyptus for nasal congestion, 7 euros, or magnesium supplements for fatigue and muscle pain, will exceed 11 euros on average in the consulted pharmacies.
Finding pain relievers with ibuprofen such as Nurofen 400 (12 capsules) for less than 6 euros is an impossible mission, which can lead to many elderly people paying close to 25 euros per month just to relieve pain. muscle or headache if they do not have a prescription. .. And as the Basque pensioners claimed in their demonstrations, ““Rising prices make it more difficult for seniors to access the healthy food and medications they need.”
From the pharmaceutical sector they defended that “despite the brutal increase in their production costs”, non-prescription pharmaceutical products have been below the CPI and the underlying CPI. “The sector has to absorb the cost increase which, in some cases, has reached 30% and it is not reflected in the price. or it has been done on the smallest scale possible, contributing to a moderate rate of inflation and benefiting the citizen,” they pointed out from Anefp, an entity that brings together companies that manufacture and sell medicines and products which is intended for self-care.
