When health comes at a price

Inflation has now hit the medical supplies market, with prices of essential equipment and surgical instruments climbing sharply over the past eight months, leaving patients and caregivers with little room to cut costs on healthcare necessities.

Traders in Karachi's surgical market attribute the steady increase to higher shipping and import costs, saying freight charges have surged in recent months. Surgical Market President Nasir Khan Tanoli said shipping companies had raised their rates, directly driving up the cost of imported medical equipment.

He said a container that previously cost around $1,200-$1,500 to book now costs nearly $3,000, adding significantly to the landed cost of medical supplies.

According to traders, a blood pressure monitor that sold for around Rs4,000 at the beginning of the year now costs Rs4,800, while blood glucose meters have risen from Rs2,000 to Rs2,400.

The price of nebulisers has increased from Rs3,000 to Rs3,400, oxygen generators from Rs65,000 to Rs74,000 and ECG machines from Rs100,000 to Rs115,000.

Prices of mobility and home-care equipment have also risen. Wheelchairs now cost around Rs13,000 compared with Rs12,000 previously, while walkers have gone up from Rs3,800 to Rs4,300. Medicated beds have climbed from Rs60,000 to Rs70,000.

Walking sticks that previously cost Rs1,000 are now selling for Rs1,300, while another category priced at Rs600 has risen to Rs800. Massage machines have registered an increase of around 17%, while glucose-testing strips have risen from Rs700 to Rs800.

Equipment used to examine the ears has also become more expensive, with one model rising from Rs2,200 to Rs2,500 and another from Rs8,000 to Rs9,500. Surgical instruments have recorded an increase of around 15%.

Commode chairs have gone up from Rs7,000 to Rs8,000, while a model previously priced at Rs18,000 now costs around Rs19,500. Traders said ultrasound machines have seen an increase of roughly 20%, with a machine costing Rs200,000 at the start of the year now selling for about Rs230,000.

Tanoli said rising operating costs were making business increasingly difficult for traders while simultaneously putting additional pressure on consumers.

"Customers complain that traders are arbitrarily raising prices," he said, adding that traders themselves were struggling to absorb higher costs.

For consumers, however, medical equipment is not a discretionary purchase that can simply be postponed.

One shopper said he had come to buy a blood pressure monitor expecting to find one for Rs1,000 or Rs2,000, but could not find a machine in the market for less than Rs4,000.

"Two meals can be skipped, but essential medical equipment cannot," he said, highlighting the growing dilemma faced by households already squeezed by inflation.

Citizens have urged the government to take notice of rising medical-equipment prices and address the higher import and shipping costs that, they say, are making essential healthcare products increasingly unaffordable.