Review of cheaper medicine law sought

January 30, 2017

Nine years after its passage, one of the original authors of the Cheaper Medicines Law in the House of
Representatives wants a “comprehensive review” of the law whose main objective was to make
medicines accessible to all.

Iloilo Rep. Ferjenel Biron, a doctor by profession, said it is about time Congress make an assessment of
how Republic Act 9502 – otherwise known as the Universal and Quality Medicines Act of 2008 – fared or
how was it implemented in the past years.

“As principal author of RA 9502, I believe that our duty does not end after the bill has been signed into
law. It is a matter of personal commitment on my part to see to it that it will actually redound to the
benefit of the Filipino people,” he said.

Biron observed the law has not yet fully attained its core objectives since 2008.

The Visayan lawmaker, who heads the House committee on trade and industry, said the panel has its
oversight function, which aims to assess whether the law had meaningfully served its purpose of making
medicines cheaper.

Under RA 9502, the President has the power to regulate the prices of drugs and medicines upon the
recommendation of the secretary of the Department of Health.

But this power has apparently not been used by either past presidents or health secretaries.

“This perhaps is one of the many reasons why to date we have not updated the list of drugs and
medicines for price regulation,” he added.

Biron said the committee would push for the inclusion of more essential medicines under compulsory
compliance with the maximum drug retail price.

“Because this will pave the way for the realization of our vision of making drugs and medicines
accessible to our people,” he said.

Biron is pushing for the passage of House Bill 3252 to amend RA 9502 by effectively reviving the
provision for a separate drug price regulatory board.

The drug price regulatory board shall be attached with the department of health and shall be
empowered to determine the maximum retail price of drugs and medicines.

With its specialized function, Biron is positive that the board will be able to efficiently monitor, review
and push for the inclusion of more drugs and medicines for common ailments and their threatening
medical condition into the list subject to price regulation.

Considering all these, Biron urged a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of RA 9502 in order to
strengthen this essential peace of legislation and to ensure that the same is meaningfully implemented
for the good of every Filipino.

DOH evaluates anew cheaper medicines scheme

by UNTV News and Rescue | March 22nd, 2017

The Department of Health (DOH) will evaluate anew the prices of medicines sold in the country for the
implementation of the mandatory price reduction scheme.

This is in accordance with the President’s objective for the public to have access to cheap yet quality
medicines.
Health secretary Paulyn Ubial said the department will create a council of experts comprised of seven
individuals from the academe and non-governmental organizations that will focus on reviewing the
prices of medicines in the country.

“You really have to balance the price , the distribution and, of course, the viability of the prices that are
set by the committee. It’s hard work to do that,” she said.

Along with this, the DOH will also push for the use of generic medicines through the Philippine Health
Agenda Medisina ng Bayan (PHAMB) program.

the DOH said 65% of Filipino consumers patronize generic medicines since the Cheaper Medicines Act
has been implemented.

Nevertheless, the DOH said there is a need to amend the said law to urge doctors to prescribe cheap
medicines especially for patients who are considered poor.

Ronnie is among those who prefer generic drugs because he is able to spend less especially that generic
medicines are as effective as branded ones.

“This is P6.00 per tablet. The branded one is P21.00 per tablet. That is three times more expensive. With
continuous intake, you will feel that your condition will improve even though the medicine you take is
just generic,” he said.

The law allows the President to set retail prices for medicines. However, there is a need for a DOH
council to focus on reviewing the data and create commendations to the President on which medicines
can be imposed with lower retail prices. – Aiko Miguel | UNTV News & Rescue

Cheaper Medicines Act not properly implemented — Villar

Published March 19, 2012, GMA News

A study conducted by the Senate committee on trade and commerce has shown that four years after
the ratification of Republic Act No. 9502 or the "Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines
Act of 2008," prices of some medicines have yet to go down.

At the bicameral hearing of the quality affordable medicine oversight committee on Monday, it was
revealed that of the five drugs included in the study, only the price of one has decreased since 2008 —
and it was not even because of the law.

“Norvasc lang ang bumaba. Nabanggit kanina na kaya bumaba ito [ay] dahil naalis na ‘yung patent
protection at talagang normally bababa na ‘yun. Walang kinalaman ang batas sa pagbaba nun,” Former
Sen. Manny Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on trade and commerce, told reporters in an
interview after the hearing.

Other drugs that were part of the study were Plendil, which cost P23.76 before the passage of the
Cheaper Medicine Law but is now P32.25; Ventolin (inhaler), which used to be P352 but is now P432.50;
Ponstan, which used to be P26 but is now P29.75; and Bactrim, which used to be P17 but is now P33.75.

70-percent decrease

But according to Reinier Gloor, executive director of Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Association of the
Philippines, prices of some medicines have gone down by as much as 70 percent since the law was
passed. He said most of these medicines were those sourced from abroad.

“There are lots of Filipino companies… 125 local firms, some competing with multinational products. In
certain products sourced from India or China and so forth, the reduction is 60 to 70 percent. For
products made in Europe and the United States, the product price reduction goes down to 60 percent,”
Gloor said.
Still, Villar said he would further study the implementation of the Cheaper Medicines Act.

“Hindi ako titigil hanggang hindi nakakagawa ng rekomendasyn ang aking komite dito sa
implementasyon ng batas na ito. Mahalaga na bumaba ang presyo ng gamot, ito ang objective ng batas
na ito at ‘yan ang dapat mangyari,” he said.

“Lobbied”?

Villar said it is “possible” that pharmaceutical companies had a hand — through intensive lobbying — in
drafting the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the law.

“Possibleng nagkaron ng lobbying sa IRR pero wala akong inaakusahan. Ang sinasabi ko lang ay posible…
Masyadong maaga para malaman kung sino pero definitely sa ating pagre-review may mga kumpanya
na nagva-violate nito,” he said.

Villar said his committee would invite health officials who drafted the IRR to the third bicameral hearing.

Out with VAT

To further lower the prices of medicines, Villar proposed to remove the value-added tax on medicines.

“Pino-propose ko rin na tanggalin ang VAT sa gamot. Hindi naman talaga dapat na papatungan pa ng
VAT ang mga gamot [dahil] talaga namang napakahalaga ito sa ating buhay, kaya hindi ko naiintindihan
kung bakit naipasama yan sa VAT natin noon,” he said.

He said his son, Las Piñas Rep. Mar Villar, has already filed a bill for this, noting that tax measures must
originate from the House of Representatives.

Free medicines for cancer patients

Meanwhile, Villar also proposed to provide free medicines specifically to cancer patients.

“Ako’y talagang nag-propose noon pa na dapat itong mga gamot sa cancer ay ibigay ng gobyerno na
libre. Naniniwala akong kaya ng budget 'yan,” he said.

The senator claimed that the government may opt to buy in bulk to avail of discounts.

“Ang isang Pilipino ay hindi dapat mamatay dahil sa cancer na hindi lamang nagkakaroon ng
pagkakataon [makatikim ng gamot],” he said. – KBK, GMA News

Cheaper medicines law hasn't served the poor

AT GROUND LEVEL By Satur C. Ocampo (The Philippine Star)
June 9, 2012

Last June 6, 2008, the Cheaper Medicines Law (Republic Act 9502, the Universally Accessible Cheaper
and Quality Medicines Act of 2008) passed after contentious debates in the 14th Congress, was signed
into law by President Gloria M. Arroyo.

R.A. 9502 was intended to achieve two correlated goals:

1. Reduce the cost of medicines — especially those that are commonly bought by the poor — to 50% of
their 2001 prices and make these available nationwide; and

2. Require and ensure the production of adequate supply, distribution, use and acceptance of medicines
identified by their generic names, which are priced much lower than patented drugs mainly produced by
multinational corporations.
This second goal was supposed to have been realized through the Generics Act of 1998. But that law was
proven inadequate, thus R.A. 9502 was enacted to complement it.

Through amendments to the Intellectual Property Code, the 2008 law allows generics-producing firms to
test, produce, and register their own versions of patented drugs, and prohibits the grant of new patents
based only on newly-discovered uses of a known drug substance.

Opinion ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

However, a “rider” provision says that “when the public interest is at stake” — which can be interpreted
in varied ways — the government can resort to procuring patented drugs.

When R.A. 9502 was passed, medicine prices in the Philippines were among the highest in Asia: per an
ASEAN survey, 5 out of 9 medicines here cost 40-70% higher than those in Indonesia, Malaysia, and
Thailand.

As one solution to the problem, R.A. 9052 gives the President the power to set price ceilings on various
drugs, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Health, including medicines for chronic illnesses,
for prevention of diseases, and those found in the Philippine National Drug Formulary Essential Drug
List.

Moreover, it allows the parallel importation of patented medicines from abroad when these are more
affordable than those available domestically. And to ensure the availability of affordable medicines, the
law requires drug outlets to carry a variety of brands for each type, including imported ones, to give the
consumers more choices.

After four years of implementation, how far has the Cheaper Medicines Act gone towards attaining the
twin goals?

As far as the poor patients of seven big government hospitals are concerned, the law’s positive impact
seems negligible, if not zero. These are the Philippine General Hospital, San Lazaro Hospital, Jose Reyes
Memorial Medical Center, Tondo Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center, National Kidney and
Transplant Institute, and East Avenue Medical Center.

At least, such can be concluded from the findings of a “Survey on Access, Affordability and Availability of
Medicines” conducted in these hospitals last May 10-25 by the Consumers’ Action for Empowerment, a
nongovernmental group involving health and social workers. The survey, using “purposive random
sampling,” was extended to four communities in Pasig, Parañaque, Payatas (Quezon City), and Tondo.

There were 840 respondents (58% female, 42% male), mostly undergoing long-term treatment or were
required to take at least one week’s dosage of medicines.

The top 10 diseases afflicting the respondents were: heart disease, 28.50%; rabies, 13.32%; upper
respiratory tract infection, 12.92%; renal, 11.19%; cancer, 7.86%; diabetes, 7.72%; lung disease, 7.59%;
gastro-intestinal, 3.99%; bone/musco-skeletal, 3.46%; and tuberculosis, 3.46%.

Most of these, the survey report notes, require essential medicines for lifetime maintenance or long-
term use and are usually expensive.

The top 10 medicines used by categories were: anti-hypertensive, 24.16%; cardiovascular, 14.54%; anti-
bacterial/antibiotics/anti-infectives, 13.7%; vitamins (not essential), 11.12%; analgesics, 9.38%;
vaccines/immunologicals/sera, 9.31%; respiratory drugs, 6.85%; gastro-intestinal, 4.39%; anti-diabetic,
3.97%; and drugs for central nervous system disorders, 2.58%.

All together, the respondents listed 2,033 prescription medicines that they used. But note this: only 828
medicines (44.67%) were taken in complete doses; 1,026 drugs (55.33%) were taken just in partial
doses.
The reason: 99.8% of the lifetime or long-term patients claimed they didn’t have the means to pay for
their complete treatments. Only 21.86% shouldered their own medical expenses. The rest relied on
relatives for help or solicited from government, private, or church organizations; or they resorted to
loans and mortgages.

The dismal picture is validated by the economic profile of the patient-respondents: 42% were jobless;
23% were housewives without incomes; 13% were employed in the service sector; 2% were oddjobbers
(scavengers, “barkers,” etc.); the rest worked variably in transport, construction, agriculture, sales,
housekeeping, miscellaneous services, or were retirees.

Where did the patients buy their medicines? Only 37% of the respondents were able to buy from
government-hospital pharmacies or the Botika ng Barangay, where prices were lower; 63% had to buy
from commercial pharmacies because stocks were unavailable in the state-hospital pharmacies.

Interesting finding: those who went to commercial drugstores were equally split — 29.54% bought
branded medicines and 29.54% purchased generic drugs.

The survey covered only patients in the NCR (85%) and adjacent regions. What of those in the rest of the
country? The report doesn’t cite the current medicine prices to see if they had gone down as projected.
The results simply mirrored the wide-scale incapability of the respondent-patients to afford them.

The findings are worrisome enough as to require a wider, deeper review of R.A. 9502 implementation.