Viagra costs more in Australia than Britain



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The hard truth about how Aussie men are paying more to treat impotence than blokes in Britain.
Hurting the hip pocket . Viagra is off patent but its still costing Aussie blokes more than men in Britain. Picture: AFP Source:News Limited.
Australian men are paying up to 140 per cent more to combat impotence than British blokes with the price of Viagra and its generic copies far higher down under.
The patent on the drug expired in May last year and the price in Australia fell from $65-85 for a pack of four to between $9-$13 ($2.23 -$3.25 per pill) at discount pharmacies.
However, in the UK an eight pack of the drug is available for as little as five pounds ($10.56) or just $1.32 per tablet.
Some large chemist chains in the UK are charging up to 20 pounds for the drug.
Subsidised . Viagra and its generic competitors are only subsidised for war veterans other Australian mean have to buy it on the private prescription market. Picture: News Corp Source:News Corp Australia.
In Australia the impotence medicine is only available on the subsidised medicine scheme for war veterans and other Australian men have to purchase it under a private prescription.
The Australian taxpayer is paying just over $66 for a pack of four pills to be dispensed under the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Hopefully, this price will fall as the government’s price disclosure policy picks up the discounted prices available since the medicine came off patent.
There were more than 16,999 prescriptions issued under the scheme in the year to June 30 2014 costing the taxpayer $1.3 million.
Melbourne University economist Professor Philip Clarke said it was the latest example of “the limited pharmacy competition in Australia compared to other countries like the UK”.
Options . There are now seven generic competitors to Viagra on the Australian market. Picture: News Corp. Source:News Corp Australia.
The government recently concluded a new five year agreement with the Pharmacy Guild that bans supermarkets from selling prescription medicines and preserves the chemist monopoly.
A spokesman for the Pharmacy Guild says the medicine only came off patent recently and competition is sure to increase.
There are currently seven generic brands of the impotence medicine competing with the original brand Viagra.
The Telegraph newspaper in Britain surveyed pharmacies in January and found that Rowlands pharmacies were selling an eight pack of the 50mg strength of the medicine for five pounds ($10.56), the Co-op Pharmacy had a price of four pounds and ninety pence ($10.35).
Day Lewis pharmacies were selling an eight pack for eight pounds or $16.90, Pharmacy 2U had it for eight pounds and fifty pence in the UK.
In Australia the medicine is commonly sold in packs that are half the size of those in Britain. Each pack here contains four tablets compared to eight tablets per pack in the UK.
In Australia Pharmacy Direct sells a four pack of the 50 mg strength of the medicine for $8.95, Chemist Warehouse is selling a four pack for $12.99.
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