Price cuts eyed for more cancer drugs

MANILA, Philippines - To boost the campaign against cancer, the Department of Health (DOH) is now studying other anti-cancer drugs that can be subjected to mandatory price reduction.

According to DOH Secretary Enrique Ona, anti-cancer drugs are usually expensive and this hampers efforts to save cancer patients.

“We will identify (more anti-cancer) drugs that can included in (our list) of essential drugs,” he said. The drugs will then be subjected to the DOH’s maximum drug retail price (MDRP).

Ona said cancer is the third leading killer of Filipinos, following cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

“It is a hidden killer but what is saddening about it is that it can be prevented through vaccination, if you see your doctor regularly and if you observe health lifestyle,” he said.

The MDRP is provided for under Republic Act 9505 or the Universally Accessible, Cheaper or Quality Medicines Act passed in August 2009. 

The law also provides for mandatory price cuts and parallel importation of patented medicines. The MDRP involves the 50-percent price cut in essential drugs identified by the DOH.

The other component of the program is the Government-Mediated Access Price (GMAP) in which drug companies volunteer to cut their prices by 10 to 50 percent.

The MDRP and GMAP have been implemented in some drugs against hypertension, diabetes, influenza, hypercholesterolemia, cancer, arthritis, goiter, allergies, and infections.