As pharmacy students, we must be certainly affected with this phenomenon, right? How come? Almost every day we have to deal with practicum — in fact, there are also practicums happen six times a week, while the effective day of lecture is only five days! However, lately, mask has become a rare thing. Even if it is available, the price does not make sense. One box of mask which was originally priced at only IDR 18,000.00/box increased to IDR 300,000.00/box! Very pricey, is not it? As a matter of course, that nominal amount can be used for rations to eat for a week.
Why, anyway, the price of masks increases?
In economics, the law of demand is known. In that law, it is stated that if the price of a product rises, the amount of demand for that item will decrease. As a result of Corona outbreak, people are panic and feel that it is necessary to protect themselves from the plague, so that the demand for masks is also suddenly super high (there was excess demand). The equilibrium point which is originally at point E, then shifts to point E’. Meanwhile, supply (S) from producers stagnates or rises, but not as much as demand. As a result, sellers will slowly raise prices to suppress demand. This public panic is also used by a number of unscrupulous mask sellers to get the maximum profit. These people deliberately hoard masks which are then sold at exorbitant prices. What is done by these individuals is certainly very detrimental to the community.
If there is no massive movement to stop the actions of unscrupulous people, over a long period of time, masks will remain scarce and prices will become increasingly unreasonable even though producers do not increase the price of masks. Therefore, government intervention is needed to restore the price of masks to normal price. How can they do that? The government can look up to South Korea, for example. In South Korea, masks on the market are pegged at high prices but the South Korean government sells masks at much cheaper prices than the market. Also, the government can learn from Singapore where its government distributes masks for free to the public. As a result, masks are no longer a scarce item and mask prices can return to normal. In addition, the government can also make policies by setting the Highest Retail Price for the sale of masks so that the sellers cannot sell masks at prices above the government regulation.
Then, what should we do as students?
First, we should use the mask sparingly. It means that, if we do not have any illness, there is no need to wear a mask except when doing a practicum. Second, we should provide education for the public not to panic buying, so there is no need to wear a mask when in good health. Masks are only used for sick people and medical workers who do have a higher risk of disease exposure. Instead, people need to be encouraged to wash their hands clean, use hand sanitizers, and always maintain a healthy body by eating healthy food and getting enough rest.
