Cheaper Medicines in the Philippines?

Written on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 12:01 am | by Lester Cavestany

The Cheaper Medicines Bill was passed by the House of Representatives in December 2007. And after four months of discussions in bicameral(Senate and House) committee, it now finally ready to be ratified by Congress. Then it will be signed into law by President Arroyo before May 1.

The long delay was caused by the stand-off between the Senate and the House contingents in the committee. The Senate members, led by Sen Mar Roxas, wanted to change two things in the bill:

  1. the removal of the generic-only prescription, wherein doctors were only allowed to write the generic name of the drug in their prescriptions - no brand names
  2. the creation of the drug price regulatory board which would allow the government to dictate the prices of medicines.

In the end, the committee had to reach a decision. They agreed on allowing  doctors to continue to prescribe branded drugs. And for the second part of the stand-off, their compromise was that the drugs sold in pharmacies all over the country will have a ceiling price as mandated by a regulatory board and approved by the President.

We really hope that this new law will help give us cheaper, but good-quality, medicines. Data shows that we have the second highest prices of medicines in Asia, second only to Japan and that the prices of medicines here are 18 times more expensive than in Canada.

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About The Author: Lester Cavestany is a teacher at the United Nations International School of Hanoi. He has been an OFW since 2002 and he hopes that someday he can be back in the Philippines for good to continue the programs of Education Volunteers Educating Filipinos Inc., a non-profit organization he started with his friends in 2001.

Filed Under National News, Politics

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Comments

4 Responses to “Cheaper Medicines in the Philippines?”

  1. Nick on April 29th, 2008 3:55 am

    Actually, the first sounds fair. Some drug companies probably wouldn’t like it, but it’s actual shift in mindset.

    The second would have been nice. What the government should do is to provide them at lower prices through public health offices. But then again, it may turn out to be the medicine version of NFA rice.. an incentive to hoard..

    Again, cheaper medicine is nice, but this should be the start of a better health care overall..

    Cheaper screening, free physicals, the focus should be on prevention. Not when people are already in the late stages of an illness.

  2. jun on April 30th, 2008 2:20 pm

    The congress has good intention in passing this bill, to let the Filipinos have access to cheaper medicines. However, the problem is always on the implementation of the law. there should be proper monitoring of the prices of medicines.

  3. ALDEN on May 1st, 2008 8:31 pm

    Eventhough it sounds good and beneficial (for the mean time) for the financially and physically challenged person, let us face the fact that many pharmaceutical companies is in danger right now.

    Although we are seeking for the alternatives and cheaper medecines, some of us can afford high technology and costly medications, which I believe is trully effective(I’ve been there).

    All of us( People of the Philippines) seeks transparency, unity and success. A good governance(free of graft and corruption), better jobs and great opportunities.

    Now what I am thinking is this, yes they’ve passed the “Bill” and in no time many pharmaceutical companies may or may not survive in this field of industry. I am afraid that this companies MAY do biological weapons that they can control and if this happened many will suffer. This is one of the things that’s clicking in my mind, i mean it’s possible, isn’t it?

  4. Valdemar on May 2nd, 2008 3:38 pm

    All that we need is stock up cheap medicines in our government hospitals for the poor and the Veterans Memorial hospital for the military retirees. No need to pass that bill or any bill that will only become another root of evils.

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