Manila Bulletin

120 drugs up for maximum price reduction

- By ANALOU DE VERA

The list of at least 120 drugs to be subjected to maximum drug retail price has been submitted to the Office of the President (OP), the Department of Health (DOH) said.

Health Undersecre­tary Rolando Enrique Domingo said that the draft Executive Order (EO) that contains the list of medicines which are being eyed for price reduction has already been given to the OP.

“The list (of medicines) is

already finished. Actually, the draft EO has already been submitted to the President and we are just waiting for the final action of the President,” Domingo said.

“We really want the pricing of these drugs to be fair to Filipinos. We don’t want manufactur­ers to lose their businesses or for them to suffer losses. All we are asking for are reasonable prices of medicines,” he added.

In September, the health department said that the proposed list of medicines covers those for hypertensi­on, diabetes, cardiovasc­ular disease, chronic lung disease, neonatal diseases, and major cancers. It also includes medicines for chronic renal disease, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The DOH said that under the maximum drug retail price scheme, the prices of selected medicines are expected to be reduced by as much as 56 percent from the prevailing market prices once the EO is approved by the President.

However, the measure is being opposed by the Pharmaceut­ical and Healthcare Associatio­n of the Philippine­s (PHAP), claiming that price reduction may appear beneficial on the surface but it has been “found counterpro­ductive” in some countries.

“We have been asking for a meeting with our officials to explain that there is a better way, that our prices are comparable to Associatio­n of Southeast Asian Nation countries, and that price control on medicines doesn’t work,” said PHAP Executive Director Teodoro Padilla.

PHAP said that “interventi­ons should be carefully monitored as pharmaceut­ical policies, including price regulation, may not always lead to an overall benefit to the public and may even cause harm by discouragi­ng [the] introducti­on of new products to a country.”

“We hope we can explain our side before the government makes a decision on the proposed MDRP,” said Padilla.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Philippines