Padjajaran University to Set Its PCR Test Price at Rp302,500
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19 August 2021 13:13 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Following the Government's decision to lower the price of paid PCR test, the Bio Safety Level-2 Laboratory of Padjadjaran University’s PCR test price is expected to be in the range of Rp300,000.
Head of the Bio Safety Laboratory Level-2 of Padjajaran University (BSL-2 Unpad) Lia Faridah said that her party had proposed reducing the cost of the PCR test. It is targeted to be implemented this month. "It will be as soon as possible, now waiting for a decision letter from Unpad (Padjadjaran University)," he said when contacted on Wednesday, August 18, 2021.
Padjadjaran University has several paid PCR test services, one of which is the Unpad BSL-2 Lab on Jalan Eyckman, Bandung. The price for a regular PCR test, which is currently Rp400,000 per sample, wants to be lowered. "We will change it later to Rp302,500 for the regular one," he said. The test results can be out the next day.
As for the same day type PCR test or the same day the results will come out in less than 12 hours, it is still pegged at Rp495,000. "We are the cheapest in Indonesia," said Lia.
The reason for lowering the price of the regular PCR test is because Unpad's BSL-2 Lab uses some materials and inspection tools from the results of independent research products.
In addition to examining patient samples, the laboratory team, who are lecturers and researchers at the university’s Faculty of Medicine, made their own extraction reagents, as well as several viral transport media (VTM) storage devices that have received marketing authorization from the Ministry of Health from December 2020 to January 2021 and have been marketed. "Indonesia uses Unpad’s products, so it can be cheaper later," said Lia.
Previously, it was reported that the reason for making VTM itself was because there had been limitations since April 2020. Imported goods were widely contested by various countries during the pandemic. Lia and several of her colleagues, such as Hesti Lina Wiraswati, Savira Ekawardhani, and Shabarni Gaffar, came up with the idea of making a VTM that could store virus samples without having to put them in a cooler. Their research pilot started in June 2020.
The government recently lowered the price of the PCR test to Rp495,000 for the Java-Bali region, and Rp550,000 for the area outside Java-Bali. The reason is because the price of materials and supporting test safety has decreased.
Read: Jakarta Prepares to Set New Ceiling Price for PCR Tests following Jokowi's Order
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