The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

FNM chairman and former minister of health Duane Sands warned voters to be cautious about campaign-season promises, suggesting the Davis administration would borrow heavily to finance short-term commitments aimed at winning support.

Dr Sands spoke with The Tribune on Friday in response to recent comments by Minister of Economic Affairs Michael Halkitis, who said that Value Added Tax will remain at zero on all unprepared grocery items if the Davis administration is returned to office after the next general election.

He said: "It is pretty obvious that we're election season now, and the promises are going to come fast and furious, and they will borrow in order to be able to make a down payment on these so-called commitments. And they will say whatever they believe will sweeten the deal in order to get the electorate to give them another shot. But the devil is a liar."

On Thursday, Mr Halkitis furthered reductions to VAT on medicines would be arbitrary and would not significantly lower costs for consumers during an Office of the Prime Minister press briefing last week.

Dr Sands rejected this position, arguing that even a reduced VAT rate continues to place an undue burden on Bahamians already struggling with rising healthcare costs.

He said that argument ignored the reality facing many patients who rely on prescription medication to manage chronic illnesses. He said for individuals paying about $100 a month for medication, even a reduced VAT charge made treatment increasingly unaffordable.

“There are people who have to choose between buying prescription medicine and paying their rent or paying their light bill,” Dr Sands said. “It may not seem like much to those in power, but for ordinary Bahamians every dollar counts.”

He said the policy was particularly troubling given the country’s high rates of non-communicable diseases and cancer, arguing that it made little sense to increase the cost of healthcare while acknowledging the scale of the public health crisis.

Dr Sands also rejected suggestions that pharmaceutical companies were responsible for high medicine prices, criticising what he described as repeated attempts by the government to shift blame onto the private sector.

“They have also now decided to take aim at the pharmaceutical industry, as they have done before, with the implicit assumption that somehow legitimate business operators are fundamentally gouging the public,” he said.

He argued that the administration should instead focus on reducing wasteful public spending, saying savings could be redirected to reduce or eliminate VAT on medicines and other health-related costs.

Despite Mr Halkitis suggesting that the National Prescription Drug Plan would ease the burden on patients, Dr Sands said the programme was already under financial strain. The drug plan is expected to be merged with the National Health Insurance system later this year.

Dr Sands stressed that healthcare providers were owed months of unpaid claims and were effectively being forced to carry the cost of the programme, adding that government officials had publicly acknowledged arrears within the system, making any expansion unrealistic.

He said the government was relying on credit while failing to meet existing obligations, likening the situation to a shopkeeper offering goods on trust while already owing suppliers.