Gov't to expand low-priced medicine program to break cartel
Philippine International Trading Corporation and PITC Pharma Inc. Chairman Roberto Pagdanganan said today the government will expand its low-priced medicine program to break the drug cartel operating in the country before 2010.
The cartel has been blamed for the sky-high prices of medicine in the country. Compared to other countries in Asia, the Philippines has reputedly the highest.
Pagdanganan said the government will intensify its three-point strategy to provide better health services under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's 10-point agenda.
He identified the three-point strategy for the half-priced medicines program as: 1) expand product lines, 2) expand distribution network, and 3) intensify advocacy and information campaign.
Under the three-point strategy, the government will provide Filipinos with safe and efficacious low-priced medicines; establish a nationwide network of privately operated drug stores as well as local government-operated retail drug outlets to ensure accessibility and availability of quality low-priced medicines; and educate the public that safe and efficacious medicines are now necessarily expensive.
Pagdanganan said he will ask the President to certify as urgent Senate Bill 2139 authored by Sen. Manuel Roxas II which seeks to amend the patent system in order to facilitate the production of low-priced medicines.
Under Senate Bill 2139, local drug manufacturers are given the right to produce and experiment quality and cheap medicines before the completion of the patent of a certain medicine.
Pagdanganan also urged the public to patronize the Botika ng Bayan and Botika ng Barangay, the government outlets for the low-priced drugs.
Based on the 2000 report of the World Health Organization (WHP), the Philippines ranked 126th out of 191 countries in terms of "level of health."
The same report said that less than 30 percent of the country's population enjoy regular access to essential drugs, while eight out of 10 Filipinos do not have regular access to essential drugs.