[Ip-health] Arroyo signs EO halving cost of 5 vital drugs

Wed Jul 29 04:13:01 2009

--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
(FYI: P48 =3D 1 USD)

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090729-217725/=
Arroyo-signs-EO-halving-cost-of-5-vital-drugs
Arroyo signs EO halving cost of 5 vital drugs

By Dona Pazzibugan, Christian V. Esguerra
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: July 29, 2009

MANILA, Philippines=E2=80=94Filipinos suffering from high-blood pressure ha=
ve
reason to cheer because the antihypertensive drug amlodipine will be
sold at half its current price starting Aug. 15.

Thanks to an executive order that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has
signed, a 2.5-mg tablet of amlodipine will sell for a maximum of P9.60.

A 5-mg tablet will cost no more than P22.85 and a 10-mg tablet, P38.50.

Executive Order No. 821 also imposes a 50-percent price reduction or a
maximum retail price (MRP) on four other essential medicines whose
prices their manufacturers have refused to voluntarily bring down.

These are the anti-cholesterol drug atorvastatin, the
antibiotic/antibacterial drug azith-romycin, the
anti-neoplastics/anticancer drugs cytarabine, and doxorubicin.

The prices of the other pharmaceutical products=E2=80=94many of which were
essential medicines=E2=80=94were voluntarily lowered by their respective
producers following an appeal from Ms Arroyo.

Last week, pharmaceutical companies acceded to government pressure to
cut in half the prices of the 16 other essential medicines which the
health department found to be exorbitant.

These are medicines for hypertension, diabetes, common bacterial
infections, amoebiasis (a leading cause of diarrhea) and cancers (such
as leukemia, the top killer pediatric cancer).

But the drug companies refused to give in to the appeal of the
Department of Health (DoH) for a 50-percent price cut for the five other
medicines on the list.

Full implementation

=E2=80=9CThe reduction of the prices of these drugs and medicines shall com=
mence
on Aug. 15, 2009 and shall be fully implemented by Sept. 15, 2009,=E2=80=9D=
 said
the order which Ms Arroyo signed on July 27 but released only Tuesday.

The order said the list of the medicines and their corresponding prices
would be reviewed by the DoH three to six months after the effectivity
of the order or =E2=80=9Cas often as necessary=E2=80=9D as determined by th=
e health
secretary.

=E2=80=9CThe period from the issuance of this order up to Aug. 15, 2009 sha=
ll
constitute the transition period in which appropriate packaging,
labeling and disposition of existing inventory should be accomplished,=E2=
=80=9D
Ms Arroyo said.

=E2=80=9CThereafter, regardless of extent of existing inventory and complia=
nce
with packaging and labeling requirements, strict implementation of the
MRP and this order shall be enforced,=E2=80=9D she said.

The President said the price differentials shall be shouldered by the
manufacturer, trader or importer of the drug.

Drug companies also offered to voluntarily reduce by 10 percent to 50
percent the prices of 22 other drugs not on the list of 21 essential
medicines the DoH had recommended for price ceiling.

When competition fails

Republic Act No. 9502, the so-called cheaper medicines law that was
signed in June last year, allows the President, upon the recommendation
of the DoH, to impose a price ceiling on medicines in case market
competition fails to curb exorbitant drug prices.
EO 821 said the DoH and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
included in the MRP list the following medicines:

=E2=80=A2 Those that are sold at much higher prices in the country compared=
 with
their international prices.

=E2=80=A2 Those that do not have healthy competition from viable generic
counterparts.

=E2=80=A2 Medicines whose innovator product is the most expensive yet most
prescribed or bought in the market.

=E2=80=A2 Those that account for the leading causes of morbidity and mortal=
ity
in the country.

All retail outlets

The MRP shall be imposed in all retail outlets whether public or
private, including drugstores, hospitals and hospital pharmacies, health
maintenance organizations, convenience stores and supermarkets.

The new prices will also serve as the ceiling for the procurement of
such drugs by all government hospitals and agencies, including the
Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and Philippine Amusement and
Gaming Corp.

The new prices shall also serve as the ceiling for reimbursement by
Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), Social Security System
(SSS) and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

Industry regrets control

The Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP),
composed of drug companies, said it would abide by EO 821.

=E2=80=9CHowever, PHAP regrets that price control for certain (drug) molecu=
les
has been imposed since it believes that the same result could be
achieved through free-market competition,=E2=80=9D the group said in a
statement.

It said that =E2=80=9Cprice control may deliver some short-term benefits bu=
t the
long-term negative consequences not only on the pharmaceutical industry
but on other industries must be considered. If price adjustments do not
result in market expansion, then affected companies will have to study
options to remain viable.=E2=80=9D

The group insisted that the MRP =E2=80=9Cis not the best approach since eve=
n at
drastically reduced prices, most of these medicines will remain
inaccessible to the poor who live on an income of less than P100 a day.=E2=
=80=9D

It suggested that a longer-term solution be implemented that considers
adequate healthcare financing through PhilHealth, infrastructure
building and training of healthcare providers in rural areas.

The pharmaceutical industry is estimated to lose about P7 billion to P10
billion ($146 million to $208 million) a year in sales, making it hard
for smaller drug firms that produce and market three or four products to
survive, the PHAP spokesperson earlier said.

MRP as last resort

Dr. Robert So, program manager of the DoH=E2=80=99s National Drug Policy, s=
aid
the executive order reflected =E2=80=9Cinitial efforts to bring down the pr=
ices
of medicines=E2=80=9D under the cheaper medicines law regime.

=E2=80=9CIf the pharmaceutical companies won=E2=80=99t work with us and won=
=E2=80=99t impose
fair prices where we would not be on the losing end, we can always use
the MRP when needed,=E2=80=9D So said.

=E2=80=9CThe MRP is a reserve instrument. We=E2=80=99re not going to abuse =
our
discretion. We=E2=80=99ll only use it as a last resort,=E2=80=9D he added.

MRP for medicines

Under the executive order, the maximum price for the following medicines
are as follows:

=E2=80=A2 Atorvastatin 10 mg film-coated tablet P34.45; 20 mg film-coated t=
ablet
P39.13; 40 mg film-coated tablet P50.50; 80 mg film-coated tablet
P50.63.

=E2=80=A2 Amlodipine besilate 5 mg + Atorvastatin calcium 10 mg tablet P45.=
75

=E2=80=A2 Amlodipine besilate 5 mg + Atorvastatin calcium 20 mg tablet P66.=
25

=E2=80=A2 Amlodipine besilate 5 mg + Atorvastatin calcium 40 mg tablet P84.=
42

=E2=80=A2 Amlodipine besilate 5 mg + Atorvastatin calcium 80 mg tablet P89.=
99

=E2=80=A2 Amlodipine besilate 10 mg + Atorvastatin calcium 10 mg tablet P51=
.13

=E2=80=A2 Amlodipine besilate 10 mg + Atorvastatin calcium 20 mg tablet P73=
.25

=E2=80=A2 Amlodipine besilate 10 mg + Atorvastatin calcium 40 mg tablet P91=
.79

=E2=80=A2 Amlodipine besilate 10 mg + Atorvastatin calcium 80 mg tablet P91=
.79

=E2=80=A2 Azithromycine 250 mg tablet P108.50; 200 mg/5 ml powder for suspe=
nsion
(15 ml) P427.50; 200 mg/5 ml powder for suspension (22.50 ml) P638.00;
500 mg tablet P151.43; 500 mg vial for injection P992.50; and 2 g
granules P468.

=E2=80=A2 Cytarabine 100 mg/ml ampul/vial (IV/SC) P240; 100 mg/ml ampul/via=
l
(IV/SC) 5 ml or 500 mg vial P900; 100 mg/ml ampul/vial (IV/SC) 10ml or 1
g vial P1,800; 20 mg/ml 5 ml ampul/vial for injection P1,980.

=E2=80=A2 Doxorubicin 10 mg powder vial for injection P1,465.75; 50 mg powd=
er
vial for injection P2,265.74. With reports from Abigail Ho and Reuters

--
Wim De Ceukelaire, coordinator of intal's international partnerships
wim.deceukelaire@intal.be | tel.: +32 2 209 23 55 | fax: +32 2 209 23 51
| mobile: +32 484 119231 | skype: wimdeceuk | blog: http://intal.be/blogs/w=
imdc

intal =E2=80=93 http://www.intal.be | http://www.g3w.be =E2=80=93 Globalize=
 Solidarity!
--