[Pharm-policy] Story on 1st shipment of cheap imports to philippines

[James Love]

This from the Manila Bulletin 

http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN/2000-11/MN110908.asp


    Thursday, 9 November 2000
    1st shipment of cheap drugs
                        here

By RONNIEL DE GUZMAN

NINOY AQUINO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT -- Officials
of the Department of Health (DoH) and the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) accepted
yesterday the first shipment of quality medicine
from India to be sold at low prices to poor Filipinos
nationwide.

The medicine shipment is part of a joint program of the
DoH and the DTI called "Presyong Tama, Gamot
Pampamilya" initiated by President Estrada to make
high-quality but inexpensive medicine available to
consumers. 

The first batch of six of the most-prescribed medicine
was flown in on a Singapore Airlines jet and was claimed
here by DTI authorities, led by officer-in-charge Thomas
G. Aquino for regional corporations, Assistant Secretary
Zenaida Maglaya, DTI Director Romeo Pajarillo, Dr.
Kenneth Hartigan-Go of the Bureau of Food and Drugs
(BFAD), Sylvia Beloso of the Philippine International Trade
Corp., Zenaida Reyes of the Consumer Task Force, and
other DoH representatives. 

The drugs are Ventolin inhaler, a medicine for asthma;
Bactrim, an antibiotic for pneumonia; Zinetac, a brand of
ranitidine for gastric ulcer; Augmentin, for sepsis
infections; Daonil, for diabetes; and Adalat Tetard, for
hypertension. They will be sold to consumers five to six
times lower than current retail prices and be made
available to the public at seven government hospitals in
Metro Manila, Davao, and Iloilo cities. 

In a brief press conference here, Maglaya said the
project is an answer to the big problem of Filipinos who
are sick and dying, but are heavily burdened by the high
prices of medicine and health care in the country. 

"It is a concerted effort to make life-saving medicines
available at more affordable prices, especially to the poor
families in our society by bringing in a selected number of
the most commonly prescribed drugs from lower-priced
sources (parallel drug importation)," Maglaya said. 

The affordability of medicines has always been a problem
not only to the Filipino but also to the DoH as the
government grapples with the need to provide proper
medicine and health care to the less privileged within
their limited budget, Maglaya added. 

"Under the program, what would normally cost P5 million
worth of medicine is now costing the government only
P1.5 million," Maglaya said. The savings of 70 percent
means more medicine for more people at more reasonable
prices for treating asthma, diabetes, hypertension, ulcer,
pneumonia, and other infections. 

Maglaya said the drugs have the same high quality and
efficacy as the ones available at local retail stores,
despite their ver low prices. 

"All the medicine will undergo full laboratory testing by
the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) as a condition for
the issuance of individual certificates of product
registration (CPR), a proof that every medicine brand
imported complies with the standards for product quality
and efficacy," Maglaya said. 

Maglaya also denied reports the government is out to
compete with the private sector in the drug industry. 

"The volume of importation is so small, it does not even
represent one percent or one-tenth of one percent of
the local drug market. The imported drugs will be available
in only selected accredited outlets,"Maglaya said.