June 18, 2026
JAKARTA – As the rupiah weakens, rising medicine prices are placing an increasing burden on people with chronic illnesses who rely on long-term treatment and daily medication.
Lili Hastuti, a 43-year-old thyroid cancer patient from Medan, North Sumatra, said she was recently forced to interrupt her treatment for two days because she could not afford her medicines amid escalating costs.
“I was diagnosed with cancer six months ago and started taking medication two months ago. Recently, I had to stop for two days because I didn’t have the money to buy the drugs,” she told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.
Lili said she takes six different medications, costing around Rp 6.2 million (US$349) per month. As a housewife whose husband works as a civil servant, she said the family’s income is not sufficient to cover the ongoing treatment expenses.
She added that she has been relying on financial assistance from her siblings to continue her medication, but remains uncertain how long that support will last amid rising prices.
“Doctors told me I need to take the medicines for six months. I’ve only completed two months of treatment, and I don’t know whether I can afford the remaining four months because the prices are high and I don’t have the money,” she said.
Tanti, a resident of Yogyakarta, also felt the impact of rising medicine prices when she recently purchased heart and asthma medication for her 81-year-old mother. While reviewing the receipt, she noticed a significant increase compared with previous months.
“I had expected a price increase, but it was higher than I thought. Previously it was around Rp 4 million, but this month it rose to Rp 5.1 million. This includes medication, consultations and an ECG. The consultation fees for both doctors remained the same, but the medicine prices alone increased by up to 20 percent,” Tanti said, as quoted by BBC Indonesia.
She stressed that the medication is essential and cannot be skipped, as missing doses could have serious consequences for her elderly mother. As a result, she said she has no choice but to bear the rising costs, despite the financial strain.
The weakening rupiah has also forced some patients to abandon medical treatment in neighboring countries.
Esmeralda Wineke, a 40-year-old resident of Batam, Riau Islands, said her husband has stopped returning to Penang, Malaysia, for follow-up heart disease treatment due to rising costs driven by the weaker currency, including both medical expenses and travel.
“My husband underwent minimally invasive cardiac surgery there and was supposed to return to Penang every three months for follow-up consultations and to collect prescribed medication. But it has become exhausting and increasingly expensive to keep flying to Penang,” she told the Post recently.
Esmeralda said her husband’s medication is not available in Indonesia, forcing the family to rely on overseas personal shopper services to procure the drugs. She now spends around Rp 2.4 million per month for four types of medication and service fees, with deliveries taking one to two weeks.
While acknowledging the risks involved in informal cross-border procurement, including the possibility of counterfeit drugs, degradation of active ingredients due to improper storage during shipping and potential violations of customs regulations, she said financial pressure and the need to sustain treatment leave them with little alternative.
“If we travel directly to Penang, we would have to pay for ferry tickets, flights from Johor Bahru to Penang or other transport, accommodation and food. On top of that, medicine prices have increased due to the weakening rupiah against the ringgit. That is why we rely heavily on this service,” she said.
Tulus Abadi, chairman of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (FKBI), said soaring medicine and vitamin prices were an unavoidable consequence of the rupiah’s depreciation, noting that between 85 and 90 percent of the raw materials used by Indonesia’s pharmaceutical industry are imported.
He warned that higher drug prices could further depress medicine consumption in Indonesia, where usage rates are already relatively low.
“A weakening rupiah will inevitably reduce medicine consumption among Indonesians because medicines will become increasingly expensive,” Tulus said in a statement on June 6 as quoted by Tempo.co.
Beyond patients, he said, the rising cost of medicines could also weigh on the finances of the country’s universal healthcare provider, BPJS Kesehatan. As hospitals and other healthcare facilities face higher procurement costs, they are likely to seek larger reimbursements, increasing pressure on the agency’s budget.
BPJS Kesehatan recently warned that it could struggle to meet claim obligations by July of next year, as monthly deficits have widened to around Rp 2 trillion amid a persistently high claims ratio.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the government has convened pharmaceutical companies operating in Indonesia to ensure that any increase in medicine prices remains below 20 percent despite pressure from the weakening rupiah.
“A price increase of between 10 and 20 percent is understandable. But anything beyond that would be excessive. Companies should not take advantage of the situation to increase profits,” he said on Thursday.
He also reassured the public that BPJS Kesehatan remains capable of absorbing higher medicine costs and continuing to provide coverage for participants. (nal)