Medicine manufacturers to cut prices by up to 75%
Credit to Author: THE MANILA TIMES| Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2019 11:55:02 +0000
Medicine manufacturers are offering to reduce their prices to the public by as much as 75 percent for around 150 medicines that cover 36 disease categories.
“It is actually at these levels of prices which we have been selling to the government in bulk in the past years. Several of our members are prepared to extend these same price reductions to the public, if the Department of Health (DoH) will agree,” Teodoro Padilla, Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) executive director, said.
Among the medicines covered for straight price reductions are those for heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, asthma, psoriasis, neurologic disorders, HIV and infectious diseases.
Also covered by the price reductions are medicines for various types of cancer, such as breast, colorectal, lung, cervical, kidney, ovarian, lymphomas and prostate.
These price reductions are generally expected to be felt throughout the supply chain from manufacturers down to both government and private retail drugstores and pharmacies that dispense medicines directly to the public.
Padilla said government hospitals have been the source of the cheapest medicines in the country because they purchase in bulk from pharmaceutical companies.
“For instance, an anti-cholesterol tablet can sell for only P0.35 in a government hospital and a tablet for hypertension can be as low as P0.19,” he said.
Data from the DoH-Drug Price Reference Index showed that a medicine for breast cancer was procured by the Health department at a price at least 74 percent lower than the prevailing market price, while the price for a kidney drug was reduced by 50 percent, both as a result of bulk procurement and price negotiation by the government directly with the medicine manufacturers.
The existence of these low prices in the market, Padilla said, belied accusations that the pharmaceutical companies had been overpricing their products.
“We develop medicines because we know they will save lives. It is a noble mission that only a few would take on because medicine and vaccine research and development is a very complicated process. Yet we persevere to develop and make them available to as many people as possible. We practice responsible pricing and considering the current situation, we see now the need to be explaining our views on this matter. We believe that through the DoH, we would be able to extend the same lower-priced medicines to the public,” he added.
The partnership between the government and PHAP for access to affordable medicines has been going on for decades, according to Padilla.
“[W]e believe that if the DoH is able to secure and make available more funds for medicines for the public, the issue of cheaper medicines will be addressed better,” he said.
Padilla added that he hopes the Health department and local executives would agree to government hospitals being used as outlets for the medicines that will be sold at cheaper prices.
With this, he said, it is believed that the proposal to impose price controls on medicines will no longer be needed.
“In addition, price control, based on experience worldwide, cannot be sustained mainly because the people have no money to buy to begin with. It also leads to market inefficiencies that will hurt the public in the end,” he said.
“The proposal to impose price control needs further study and consultation with the stakeholders. We are willing to help the department and at the same clarify any misimpressions about medicine pricing in the country,” he said.
Aside from straight price reduction on medicines, the PHAP is also offering programs that provide a holistic and comprehensive assistance to patients.
“We believe that medicine prices in the country are now comparable with those in Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). For specific medicines, data shows that prices in the Philippines are even lower than our neighboring nations. However, we are willing to continue working with the DoH to reduce medicine prices without the negative social costs involving the health of the people because of reduced access to life-saving medicines,” Padilla said. JAIME PILAPIL