The number of PCR test of diagnosis It has multiplied today, either because there are countries that demand them from travelers arriving in their territory, or because people prefer to undergo one before visiting their loved ones.
Parallel to this increase in evidence, the experts consulted by AFP regret the price war, which punishes the poorest and also the fight against the pandemic.
When Fithrah Auliya Ansar, who had traveled to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi with her daughter and husband to a wedding, wanted to return home to Sumatra, the rules had changed and a PCR test was required to return. The family had to pay $ 170 and the woman decided to delay her return until “the government changes the rules,” she explained to AFP.
The situation repeats itself regardless of the continents. In Rosebank, an affluent neighborhood on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, the PCR test, performed in a lab parking lot, costs R 850, or more than $ 50.
“Who can pay such an amount in this country?” Asks Canadian Lauren Gelfand, who has to take the test to return to Nairobi.
But this is certainly not the most expensive test in the world. According to a survey by the insurance company April, a PCR test costs about 153 euros ($ 188) in the United States, 250 euros ($ 307) in the United Kingdom and up to 347 ($ 426) in Japan.
“The differences are due to the medical conditions in the country. For some, going to a doctor means going to the private sector where care is extremely expensive,” said Isabelle Moins, CEO of April International Insurance.
Yet the tests are practically essential for traveling. In November, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) counted 126 countries that needed PCR tests for international tourists.
For example, in countries like France, the test is free regardless of the circumstances that motivate it. But elsewhere, they only reimburse patients with symptoms or, at best, those who have had contact with a sick person. This means that many travelers have to pay for the test themselves.
This is the case in the UK, where PCR testing is free for people who have symptoms or live in areas where disabilities are highest. The rest has to go to private laboratories. Boots, a major pharmacy chain, is proposing a 120-pound ($ 160) test. At the private Harley Street Clinic in London, it costs more than double.
In South Korea, excluding Seoul and its region, a PCR test without symptoms costs about $ 108.
In Spain, citizens do not have to pay for the test if it is prescribed by a doctor. Otherwise, they will have to go to a private center and pay between 115 and 180 euros, according to data from the OCU consumer organization. An AFP journalist was even offered a test for 250 euros in Andalusia (south).
In other countries, such as Germany or Italy, prices can range from € 59 to € 190, depending on where the test is conducted.
How much does it really cost?
Understanding how a PCR test is priced is a real puzzle. With or without a prescription, in a private center or in a public place … It is difficult to clarify in this chaos of rules and prices.
Labs and manufacturers are discreet about their rates and the true cost of these tests.
According to a July 2020 study conducted by the organization Epicenter, which supports the epidemiological tasks of the NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF), “the cost of a PCR test is between 15 and 25 euros, depending on the methods”, without counting. the extraction material such as the cotton swab, the salaries of the personnel who perform them and the protective equipment they must use to perform the test or the cost of the place where these tests are carried out.
French Social Security has determined that the state must pay € 43.20 ($ 53) to laboratories for each test.
“The price is set by the health services of each country,” says the French analysis group Eurofins, which carries out about 2 million PCR tests per month.
In this context, some people may refrain from testing or even go to a black market where they give a false negative result.
Many people prefer “not to take a test due to lack of funding,” said Ayman Sabae, responsible for health issues at the Egyptian NGO Initiative for Personal Rights. In this country, £ 2,000, about $ 127, is charged for a test – that is, the monthly salary of a local official.
Test falsos
In Mozambique, authorities discovered a network of false negative tests in an area bordering South Africa in October. Most tests in Mozambique are conducted in private clinics and cost equal to the minimum wage.
In Gabon, where a negative test is required to travel from one province to another by public transport, a young college student from Libreville who has to take the bus to visit her family without revealing her identity says she pays about 18 euros. dollars to get a fake certificate. “It’s fast, they scan a lab seal and give me a false result that really looks like a real document. The person reviewing the certificates doesn’t have the time or the material means to verify it,” he explains. from.
So, In many places, the current number of infections does not reflect reality at all.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes that PCR testing requires significant resources and infrastructure, conditions not found in many parts of the world. The institution launched a mechanism called ACT-Accelerator to make 500 million tests available to developing countries by 2021.