number Diagnostic PCR test It has multiplied these days, either because there are countries that require them from travelers who arrive on their territory, or because people prefer to submit to one before visiting their loved ones.
In parallel with this increase in evidence, experts consulted by AFP regret the price war, which penalizes the poorest and also the fight against the pandemic.
When Fithrah Auliya Ansar, who had traveled with her daughter and husband to a wedding on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, wanted to return home to Sumatra, the rules changed and a PCR test was needed to return. The family had to pay $ 170, and the woman decided to postpone her return until “the government changes the rules,” she told AFP.
The situation is repeated, regardless of the continents. In Rosebank, a wealthy suburb on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, the PCR test, performed in a laboratory parking lot, costs $ 850, or more than $ 50.
“Who can pay such a sum in this country?” Asks Canadian Lauren Gelfand, who has to take the test to return home to Nairobi.
But this is by no means the most expensive test in the world. According to a study conducted by the insurance company in April, a PCR test can cost 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 country’s medical circumstances. For some, going to the doctor means going to the private sector, where care is extremely expensive,” says Isabelle Moins, CEO of April International Insurance.
However, tests are still practically essential for travel. In November, the World Tourism Organization (WTO) counted 126 countries that require PCR tests for international tourists.
In countries such as France, for example, the test is free, regardless of the circumstances that motivate it. But, in other places, it reimburses only to patients with symptoms or, at best, to 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 tests are free for people who have symptoms or live in areas where the restrictions are higher. The rest have to go to private labs. Boots, a major pharmacy chain, is offering a test at £ 120 ($ 160). At the private Harley Street clinic in London, it costs more than double.
In South Korea, with the exception of Seoul and its region, getting a symptom-free PCR test costs about $ 108.
In Spain, citizens do not have to pay anything for the test if it was prescribed by a doctor. Otherwise, they have to go to a private center and pay between 115 and 180 euros, according to data from the consumer organization OCU. An AFP journalist even received 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 performed.
How much does it really cost?
Understanding the price of a PCR test is a real puzzle. With or without a prescription, in a private center or in a public place … It is difficult to clarify this mess of rules and prices.
Laboratories and manufacturers are discreet about their tariffs and the real cost of these tests.
According to a July 2020 study 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 method”, without taking into account the material extraction, such as the swab, the salaries of the personnel performing them and the protective equipment they must use to perform the test or the cost of the place where these tests are performed.
French Social Security has stipulated that the state must pay laboratories 43.20 euros ($ 53) for each test.
“The price is set by the health services in each country,” says the French analysis group Eurofins, which performs about 2 million PCR tests per month.
In this context, some people may give up testing or even go to a black market where it gives a false negative result.
Many people prefer “not to take a test due to lack of financial means,” says Ayman Sabae, head of health issues at the Egyptian NGO’s Personal Rights Initiative. In this country, 2,000 pounds, about 127 USD, are charged for a test, ie the monthly salary of a local official.
Test fake
In Mozambique, authorities detected a network of false-negative tests in October in an area bordering South Africa. Most tests in Mozambique are performed 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 student from Libreville who has to take the bus to go to see his family says that without wanting to -reveals his identity, pays about $ 18 to get a fake certificate. “It’s fast, it scans the seal of a laboratory and gives me a false result that really looks like a real document. The person examining the certificates doesn’t have the time or the material means to verify them,” he explains.
Thus, In many places, the current number of infections does not reflect reality at all.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes that PCR testing requires considerable resources and infrastructure, conditions not found in many parts of the world. The institution has launched a mechanism called ACT-Accelerator to make 500 million tests available to developing countries by 2021.