CCC probes steep PCR test fees
BUSINESS REPORTER
The Comesa Competition Commission (CCC) is probing medical laboratories operating in the regional bloc for violating competition rules by allegedly overpricing on PCR tests, then a requirement for cross border travel at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an update on Tuesday, the CCC said it was investigating Cerba Lancet Africa and PathCare South Africa.
Cerba Lancet Africa is a network of pathology and biomedical laboratories with wholly-owned subsidiaries in Eswatini, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
PathCare Kenya Limited is a private Kenyan owned professional laboratory with affiliation to PathCare South Africa.
CCC director and CEO Willard Mwenda said the body raised a prima facie view that the cost of a PCR test during the Covid-19 era was “very steep”. At the peak of the pandemic the PCR ranged between US$40 and US$60 in Zimbabwe.
“The CCC was concerned that the consumers in the Comesa region and indeed governments could have been spending more than they should have done. The CCC was further aware that some of these companies even had contracts with governments to provide these services,” Mwenda said.
He said the intervention by the South African Competition Authority which led to some laboratories reducing prices by half in South Africa and in countries such as Eswatini pointed towards “a likelihood of excessive pricing”.
“At this stage these remain allegations and the CCC is still investigating. Suffice to mention that the parties are cooperating well with investigations,” Mwenda said.
