DOH to drugstores: Give discount on diabetes, hypertension meds

HEALTH SECRETARY Francisco Duque III called on drugstores and pharmaceutical companies to sell diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension medications at a discounted price after the Department of Finance announced that such medicines will be exempted from value-added tax starting January 1.

This in line with the of Health (DOH), Bureau implementation of Section of Internal Revenue 109-AA of Republic and Food and Drug Authority Act 10693 as implemented (FDA) Joint Administrative by the DOF, Department Order No. 2-2018 and BIR Regulations No. 25-2018.

Duque said senior citizens would benefit greatly from this, in addition to those who have hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes. “Ang panagawan natin sa mga drugstores ay sundin natin ang batas nang hindi tayo magkaroon ng problema. Otherwise, baka kayo makasuhan. There is only 7 percent of senior citizens out of the total population of 104 million and the rest won’t be covered,” he said.

With its implementation, senior citizens will have a 32 percent discount on all medicines for such diseases, Duque said, adding, concerned agencies worked on the VAT exemption for these types of medicine first as they are the “common maintenance medications, which many Filipinos spend a lot of money on”.

“But we’re also sensitive to the clamor of some groups like the cancer patients with breast cancer, prostate cancer, et cetera and as a regulatory oversight agency, the FDA will ensure that the important provisions of the law are complied with, with the help of the DOH,” Duque said. (Maria Teresa Montemayor)