But they’re finding out the job’s not easy. They are up against well-oiled machinery addressing an audience ranging from the “pera o bayong” crowd to those in the medical industry. Not just that. Government health agencies face budget cuts for the year 2000.
Amid the heightening controversy over the inaccessibility of medicines in the country, there is a growing awareness among public health officials that the solution may not be so much the lowering of drug prices as the strict implementation of the Generics Act.
On the part of the private sector, medical associations and a doctors’ cooperative, the Medical Mission Group Hospitals and Health Services Cooperative of the Philippines (MMGHHSCP), are undertaking too programs to help lower medicine prices.
The National Drug Policy (NDP) office is focusing on making people aware of the existence of the generics law. (See Dossier)
In the next few months, according to Mia Bonagan of the NDP office, people can expect a high-level education campaign from the Department on Health (DOH) on the Generics Act.
“Meron naman tayong mga inexpensive medicine. But people tend to buy the known brand at ito yung nakikita nila sa advertisements o sinabi ng doctor nila,” she said.
“Gaya ng pera o bayong ng MTB (Magandang Tanghali Bayan),” Bonagan said, pointing out that the sponsor of the segment was a drug company.
The MMGHHSCP, a doctors’ cooperative with 56 chapters nationwide, has plans to push generics in the chapter-level. Some individual chapters are taking the lead by seeking out generics sources as they go full blast in drug distribution in their localities. The cooperative’s federation is majority holder of Medicine Trading Inc., a national drug distribution firm.
According to Dr. Tony Garcia, Medicine Trading Inc. board chairman, the firm has recomputed its drug prices, with the reduced price list to take effect by the new millennium. It is also scrapping its perks strategy which Garcia described as “undignified, unprofessional and unethical.”
President Estrada in October and November repeatedly criticized the overpricing of medicine by as much as 500 to 1,000 percent, thereby making medical products way beyond the reach of majority of Filipinos. He challenged doctors to exercise social responsibility and help lower drug prices in view of reports that the high prices were partly due to expensive promotions resorted to by drug firms to lure doctors to prescribe their products.
The generics law requires doctors to prescribe medicines according to their generic name. Also, drugstores or pharmacies are required to list products according to their generic name, together with the corresponding prices, so that people can choose the brand that is most affordable for them.
But at present, Bonagan of the NDP office said, the practice is for people to buy medical products that are familiar to them. This gives multi-million-peso drug manufacturing and distribution companies an edge over the competition as they have a big budget for promotional activities like advertisements, in the case of over-the-counter drugs, and doctor linkages for prescription medicine though their products are more expensive.
She said this could be one reason why Ventolin, used for the treatment of asthma, was the most bought pharmaceutical product distributed by Zuellig Pharma Philippines in 1997. The company handles the products of over 60 international healthcare companies with distribution to more than 10,000 outlets.
Another reason was that asthma is still the top 10 causes of morbidity and mortality in the country.
Data taken from Zuellig’s official web site showed that the anti-asthma medicine Ventolin topped the list of the 10 most bought drug products distributed by the company in 1997.
The other medicines in the list are 2) Alaxan (pain reliever), 3) Enervon C (multivitamin), 4) Ponstan (pain reliever), 5) Augmentin (antibiotic) 6) Ceporex (cough preparation) 7) Propan Iron (multivitamin), 8) Plendil ER (anti-hypertension) 9) Zinacef (stronger dose of antibiotic), 10) Biogesic (fever and coldtreatment).
Dr. Purificacion Labitan of the DOH in Central Visayas said the fact that treatment for respiratory diseases was still among the top 10 medicines bought in 1997 was indicative of the continued prevalence of the illnesses, though easy to prevent, in the country.
She added that respiratory tract infections, among them cough that develops into pneumonia, were still the top killers of infants and young children.
Related to this is a host of other problems like low income, lack of decent shelter and little or no access to basic health services, Labitan said.
Sociology teacher Leny Ocasiones said the Zuellig data reflect the sad state of the country’s health situation. That the common cough gets to cause so much damage by being allowed to develop into acute respiratory infections due to the lack of the most basic of health education is deplorable, she added.
And, that the people continue to buy expensive medical supplies when they have an alternative, Ocasiones pointed out, shows that the Generics Act is a total failure.
“It is sad to note but in the hierarchy of needs, cleanliness and good health are already considered as higher ideals,” Ocasiones said.
On the part of the NDP office, Bonagan said it will undertake strategies to make the price of medicine affordable for the average Filipino.
Their strategies
include an information and education campaign on the Generics Act and providing
competition to drugstores and pharmacies through the creation of the Botika
ng Masa, which will be piloted in three hospitals in the country.*
| Dossier:
Full text of Generics Acts |
