Mar favors scrapping of ‘generics only’

SEN. Manuel Roxas II yesterday expressed support for President Arroyo’s order to drop the "generics-only" provision in the long delayed Cheaper Medicines bill.

"Implemented correctly by the executive branch and with the cooperation of all sectors, a 20 to 50 percent savings per family on medicines is achievable within a reasonable period after its approval," said Roxas, who was the original proponent of the measure.

Roxas urged his counterparts at the House of Representatives, particularly the committee on trade, to form a consensus around the President’s proposal.

The "generics-only" provision found in the House version requires doctors to write only the generic names of medicine in their prescriptions, instead of the current practice of writing both the generic and brand names.

This provision has been one of the most contentious issues in reconciling the versions of the two Houses.

Roxas said the Senate panel believes that amendments to the Generics Act can be the subject of a separate measure under the jurisdiction of the committee on health.

Roxas said with the latest development, the obstacles to the approval of the measure have been practically overcome.

He said the Department of Health should start laying the groundwork for an Affordable Medicines Summit to formulate a clear road map for the implementation of its provisions with the help of different sectors.

Roxas expressed confidence that the proposed law would free a large portion of the household income now spent by Filipinos to pay for expensive maintenance drugs.

Roxas cited the case of some 7.76 million Filipinos suffering from hypertension.

"Many Filipinos with high blood pressure now spend about P137.50 every day, or P4,125 monthly for their maintenance drugs. We reckon this amount can easily be reduced by at least half that amount, once more quality affordable medicines come in," the senator said.

Roxas is principal author of Senate Bill 1658, the proposed Quality Affordable Medicines Act. He is also co-chair of the Senate-House conference committee reconciling the final version of the bill.

SB 1658 seeks to provide Filipinos greater access to inexpensive drugs through parallel importation, and allows for a price regulation mechanism for certain medicines when the President, through the recommendation of the Secretary of Health, deems this warranted.

The measure proposes to relax existing patent rules by declaring that parallel importation would not violate trademarks, as long as the drugs brought in are determined to be genuine counterparts produced in other countries.

A study of the Philippine Development Forum Millennium Development Goals and Social Progress Sub-Working Group on Health showed that drug prices in the Philippines are among the highest in Asia – at least three to four times higher than the international price index scale. – Dennis Gadil