Doctors welcome cheap medicine bill implementation awaited

MANILA, Philippines – Doctors urged President Arroyo yesterday to exercise political will in implementing the Cheaper Medicines Bill once it becomes law to make affordable and quality medicine available to the poor. 

After it is signed into law, the bill will be known as the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicine Act of 2008.

Dr. Gene Nisperos, Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) secretary general, said it is not enough that the bill is passed by Congress and signed by Mrs. Arroyo into law.

“What we need here is action primarily from Mrs. Arroyo,” he said. 

“The bill does not end on its passage.  It’s only the beginning. There is so much that needs to be done to make if really work.”

The bill, to be known as the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicine Act of 2008” is now up for signing by Mrs. Arroyo.

Nisperos said the lowering of medicine prices comes at a crucial time because the prices of commodities and services in the country are soaring.

“I just hope that Mrs. Arroyo will immediately show that she means business, that she is sincere in her desire to bring down the prices of medicines,” he said.

The Philippine Medical Association fully supports the Cheaper Medicines Bill, as long as the “generics-only provision” is removed, according to Dr. Bu Castro, former PMA president.

Bill satisfies GMA

Mrs. Arroyo said yesterday she is satisfied with the version of the Cheaper Medicines Bill approved by the bicameral conference committee.

Speaking to reporters in Camiguin, Mrs. Arroyo said what was important to her was that the cost of medicines in the country would go down even as she expressed belief that lawmakers worked hard to hammer out a version that could be approved immediately.

“But the essence is if we can bring down the price of medicine, that’s it,” she said. “I keep saying is that my job as President is the strategic direction not the details.”

Mrs. Arroyo said she presumes that the lawmakers exercised their “good judgment” in hammering out the final version of the Cheaper Medicines Bill.

“They are elected representatives of the people, so we trust that whatever they finally agreed on after long periods of debate must be the most practicable (version) that would bring about the desired results, but I was very happy to hear that it was ratified in both houses (of Congress),” she said.

Zamora doubts bill’s potency

House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora doubts that the Cheaper Medicines Bill would bring down the prices of medicine after it  becomes law.

Zamora said lawmakers worked hard for the last three years to come up with a bill that could make drugs affordable to the poor.

“But at the last minute, they removed important provisions,” he said.

Zamora said the bicameral conference committee removed the provisions “generics only” and the price regulatory board upon the request of President Arroyo.

“Remember that it was Health Secretary (Francisco) Duque who originally proposed the generics only provision,” he said.

“And when doctors threatened to declare a one-day holiday, he immediately gave in.”

Zamora said the bicameral conference committee deleted the regulatory board and empowered the Secretary of Health and the President to fix maximum prices for medicine.

The President and the health secretary are subject to political pressure, unlike an independent board whose members could include representatives of non-government organizations and academe, he added.

On the other hand, Palawan Rep. Antonio Alvarez, House trade and commerce committee chairman and principal sponsor of the bill, said he was confident that the government could bring down prices of medicine.

“In the hands of a decisive government, it can provide not only fast-acting but permanent relief to high drug prices,” he said.

Alvarez said the bill has enough provisions that could lower medicine prices:

• Allowing the importation of cheap medicine;

• Doing away with frivolous patent applications;

• Allowing local producers to work on a drug before its patent expires; and

• The regulatory power that rests with the President and the health secretary.

Alvarez said the Cheaper Medicines Bill is the “last frontier in social legislation.”

“It has come to be because of the fiction that medicine is an important commodity that it has to be packed in a thick layer of patents government is now even allowed to pry open,” he said.

“We have breached that barrier, and in doing so reclaimed our people’s right to health.”

Zamora’s objection ‘misplaced’

Sen. Manuel Roxas II, principal sponsor and author of Cheaper Medicines Bill at the Senate, said yesterday Zamora’s objections to the bill were “misplaced.”

“Approval of this law is one step, effective implementation is another,” he said.

“All the tools that can be used to lower the prices of medicines are in this measure, and it’s up to the executive branch to undertake its implementation with courage and conviction in partnership with different sectors.”

Roxas said once the bill is passed into law the Department of Health must work on its implementing rule and regulations in close coordination with various stakeholders.

“Our work is not yet done,” he said.

“Those who have vested interests in maintaining the status quo prefer and will work for the failure of this measure. We must be twice as determined as they are in working for its success.”

Roxas again called for an affordable medicines summit for the national government, with the help of local governments, stakeholder, and local and international health experts, to formulate a detailed roadmap for the implementation of the law.

“There are local and international health experts that the government can initially consult with to jumpstart the preparations for the enactment and implementation of this law,” he said.

Sen. Pia Cayetano, Senate health committee chairwoman and co-sponsor of the Cheaper Medicines Bill, called for the cooperation of her fellow lawmakers and all stakeholders to help bringing down medicine prices.

“Passing this law and overcoming the obstacles is only half the work,” she said.

“The other half and more difficult part is in working together to ensure that the objectives of this law are realized.”

Cayetano said she would continue to work on several proposals complementing the new law, particularly proposals to strengthen the Bureau of Food and Drugs to enable the agency to effectively monitor the quality and efficacy of both branded and generics drugs in the market.

“We have already heard measures aimed at reviewing the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers, and we will hold our second hearing next week on maternal health, including reproductive health, with the aim of bringing down our maternal, child and infant mortality rates in keeping with our commitments to the Millennium Development Goals,” she said.

“We will also conduct hearings with the end in view of achieving universal coverage and better benefit packages under Philippine Health Insurance Corp..”

Cayetano also said the Generics Act has to be effectively implemented.

“But I don’t think the solution lies in taking out the doctor’s prescription authority as espoused by the proponents of the generics only provisio,” she said.

Sen. Francis Escudero urged all stakeholders to make sure that the Cheaper Medicines Bill would not follow the footsteps of the failed Oil Deregulation Law and the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.

“When these two bills were passed, the promises were to bring the price of petroleum and power down, respectively,” he said.

“Years after, we eat and breathe unabated oil and power rate hikes. Let us not allow cheaper medicines bill go this way.

“It will be strike for us if we let this happen. Only a vigilant and prudent public can see this bill through.”

Escudero said medicine security is like food security—its efficacy is three-pronged: affordability, availability and reliability.

“These three packages should be felt and experienced by all Filipinos in a sustained and continuous mode,.” he said. 

“There should be no let up in seeing the promises of the bill come to pass.”

The congressional oversight committee must be convened to ensure that the Cheaper Medicines Bill, once signed into, will be implemented according to its mandate.

‘Help generic drug firms’

The United Opposition urged yesterday Malacañang to provide incentives to generic drug companies to benefit the poor.

In a statement, San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor  Ejercito said the passage of the Cheaper Medicines Bill is a step to the right direction in reforming the pharmaceutical industry and providing cheaper medicines to the poor.

“More lives of poor Filipinos will certainly be saved because of this Cheaper Medicines Bill,” he said.

“Congress has done its role and Malacañang must now pick up the initiative. We challenge Malacañang to grant ncentives to generic drug companies as a complimentary step.” – With Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica, Jess Diaz, Jose Rodel Clapano