Pinoys deserve cheap, quality drugs – Pagdanganan

People’s Tonight – February 12, 2007

"WE support BB 6035 and we have been advocating reforms in our patent system for the benefit of the people. We should not deny our people especially the poor access to affordable and quality medicines."

On this note, the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) headed by Secretary Roberto M. Pagdanganan thanked President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Speaker Jose de Venecia for the special session to be held Feb.19 to20 to pass vital legislations which include measures on cheap medicines not acted upon by Congress.

Pagdanganan, PITC chairman, is urging Congress for the immediate passage of House Bill 6035 which aims to lower down the cost of medicines in the country.

HB 6035 was among the eight priority bills not acted by Congress due to lack of quorum. The others are on tax amnesty, tourism, planting of one billion trees, Political Party Act, rationalization of tax incentives, bill for special economic zones and Human Rights Compensation Bill.

Pagdanganan said the recent passage of Senate Bill 2263, which seeks to amend specific provisions of the Intellectual Property Code to make drugs more affordable, will mean nothing if its counterpart bill in the House of Representative will not be passed.

House Bill 6035, according to Pagdanganan, will promote market competition in the pharmaceutical industry. He added that the PITC can better serve the public by opening up more Botika ng Bayan outlets and providing more products for the public to choose from.

HB 6035 is consistent with the trade-related agreement on intellectual property rights administered by the World Trade Organization which the country acceded to in 1994. Under the agreement, the Philippines is allowed certain flexibilities such as parallel importation, government use of inventions, early working provision or the Bolar exception among others.

Most of these provisions have already been adopted by developing nations and developed countries.

“If it can be done in other countries like Argentina, Thailand, America and Europe, why can’t it be done here?” Pagdanganan asked.

The PITC was tasked by President Arroyo to reduce the prices of commonly bought medicines by half in year 2010. The cost of these drugs today is five to six times higher than those sold in other countries.

Under the program, the Botika ng Bayan will serve as outlets of pharmaceutical products sourced locally and abroad by the PITC. This program is a pro-poor priority project in the President’s medium-term development plan aims to make essential medicines commonly bought in the country today available, accessible, and affordable to the greater masses of our people.

The parallel importation being undertaken by PITC is the government’s strategic response to a regime of high prices of medicines in the country.

The PITC launched in December 2004 the Botika ng Bayan project to set up a nationwide network of privately-owned and operated accredited pharmacies that sell low-priced drugs in competition with commercially priced medicines in the market. At least 1,200 ‘Botika’ drug outlets have since been opened to serve the general public’s need for affordable medicines.

Pagdanganan cited industry data indicating that the local pharmaceutical market accounts for an average annual sales worth between P80 and P100 billion.

About 88 percent of sales are generated through drugstores and only 12 percent are accounted for by hospital pharmacies. Branded medicine sales are 97 percent of the total, while generics only account for 3 percent.

“Our goal is to reduce  by half their 2001 prices the cost of medicines in the country by year 2010,” he said, stressing that about P40 to P50 billion would be generated in savings which our drug-buying public can use for other essential needs.”