The Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) said the government’s price caps on medicines did not achieve the objecting of granting greater access to affordable medicines to Filipinos but has in fact thrown the investment environment in the country into turmoil.
PHAP’s statement comes in the wake of the release of the results of the Social Weather Station (SWS) survey on Filipino’s Preference on Access to Medicines and Partnerships with the Pharmaceutical Sector which said 96 percent of adult respondents believe the government “should definitely” provide free medicines to those who need them.
“The stated objectives of the price cap is to improve access, more patients getting more drugs so naturally, you’d expect more units of the drugs sold, “ said Dr. Beaver Tamesis, chairman emeritus of PHAP, at a press conference yesterday.
But Tamesis said looking at the impact of the first Maximum Drug Retail Price (MDRP) program in 2008 and the second round in 2020, “we’re seeing no increase in access. “
“This really demonstrates no achievement of the stated objectives,” Tamesis added.
Teodoro Padilla, PHAP executive director, said not only does the Philippines fail to get more investments in, and access to, innovative medicines, it has even lost some manufacturers.
“The viability of the business really hurts. `Why bother?’ That becomes a question that we have to deal with internally if we want to try to launch these particular brands here especially if the environment is populist, “ Padilla said.
Padilla said in 2008, when the first round of the MDRP was put in place, there were medications that were either slowly made unavailable due to the fact these were not sustainable in terms of its support.
He said industry saw the pullout of one drug manufacturer.
Padilla said in the latest round of MDRP during the height of the pandemic, one manufacturer rationalized its operations and eventually transferred its marketing to another company.
“(Setting price caps) is not a sustainable approach to inducing investment in the country while keeping the latest innovative medicines available for the public. If we compare (the Philippines) to (its) neighbors in the Asean region, the Philippines is amongst the last countries that gets the latest medicines. Why? Because there has to be consistency. There has to be predictability. And nothing can be done on a whimsical (manner). Unfortunately, populist sentiments tend to overrule common sense,” Padilla said.
He added: “We really need to study these measures closely, mostly because there are better, more sustainable (ways) to making medicines accessible, affordable, while at the same time encouraging innovative companies to continue to introduce these here.”
Tamesis said giving access to free medicines to those who need it should be a long- term vision that should be stated by the government as a policy.
“This is not going to happen tomorrow or two years down the line… You have to start with a vision but it takes political will to do it,” he added.
The national SWS Survey found 96 percent of adult respondents said t the government “should definitely” (78 percent) and “should probably” (17 percent) provide free medicines to those who need them. The SWS also noted that there is very strong agreement across demographics, ranging from net +89 to +98.
The SWS survey also revealed the issues that should be addressed to lower or remove the high out-of-pocket spending of Filipinos when it comes to healthcare.
With Filipinos paying mostly for their own medicines, the survey found medicines ranked first as the most burdensome healthcare expense, followed by payment for doctor’s fees, laboratory fees, and hospital room if hospitalized.
At present, it is estimated that for every P100 spent on medicines, P85 is paid out-of-pocket by Filipino families or shared by voluntary private insurance. The country’s private share in medicine expense is one of the highest in the world compared with Malaysia (45%), South Korea (42%), New Zealand (32%), and Thailand (9%).
The survey reported the high preference of Filipinos for free and subsidized medicines as the most helpful ways of obtaining medicines for a grave illness. At present, the government is providing subsidized or free medicines for certain diseases but would need to be expanded to provide more support to patients, and cover more health conditions especially for economically challenged patients.
Commissioned by PHAP, the survey covered 1,440 respondents and was done between December 12 and 16, 2021. Irma Isip
