Roxas pushes approval of cheap medicines bill

Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas III, chairman of the Senate trade and commerce committee, has continued his fight for the approval of his sponsored bill for quality and low-cost medicine for the benefit of the masses.

Roxas actually started his campaign for lower priced medicine way back when he was still Secretary of Trade and Industry, contending that creating competition against multinational drug companies in the country could result in affordable prices of medicines.

The cost of medicine in our country has been higher than in other Asian countries, 22 times higher than in India and five times higher than in Pakistan, Roxas said.

Roxas cited that a canister of Ventolin, for example, costs P315 in the Philippines but is sold for P62.10 only in Pakistan, while the medicine for diabetics, Diamicron, sells in the Philippines at P11.46 per 80mg but is available in India at only P4.71.

An 80 mg tablet of Bactrim is sold at P15.55 in the Philippines but costs only P0.69 centavos in India, and a 500-mg tablet of Ponstan sells at P21.82 in local drugstores but can be had at only P2.61 in India.

In the Lower House, the author of the “cheaper medicine bill” is Rep. Ferjenel Biron of Iloilo. A doctor by profession, Biron has been attacking Pfizer, a multinational firm, which had sued the government company, Philippine International Trading Corporation, over an alleged patent infringement.

Biron’s family has also been into the pharmaceutical business, as manufacturer and distributor. — Phoebe Jen Indino/RAE