[Ip-health] AFP: Philippines sets price ceilings on 'essential' drugs

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j_9R3kPKwSR_PhhDZ3T7bZYy=
45YA

Philippines sets price ceilings on 'essential' drugs

(AFP) =96 18 hours ago

MANILA =97 The cost of a number of essential drugs will be slashed in
the Philippines after the government said Tuesday it had imposed price
ceilings on them.

President Gloria Arroyo signed an order setting a limit on five widely
sold drugs while pharmaceutical companies agreed to cut prices on
dozens of others, a copy of the order said.

The move will be good news for millions of Filipinos as many
lifesaving medicines are considered too expensive for a country where
more than 30 percent of the population live on less than 85 cents a day.

Arroyo said she imposed the controls after consultations with the
pharmaceutical companies, including a number of major international
makers.

She said the firms "voluntarily undertook" to reduce by at least 50
percent the prices of 16 widely used drugs and by 10 to 50 percent the
cost of 22 others by August 15.

The five drugs the government imposed the ceiling on are Amlodipine,
Atorvastatin, Azithromycin, Cytarbine and Doxorubicin, which are used
for treating high blood pressure, cholesterol and cancer.

Government moves to put a limit a number of other treatments were
thwarted by some leading companies who threatened to pull out of the
country unless Manila agreed the voluntary reductions.

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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
thiru@keionline.org


Tel: +41 22 791 6727
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