The Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) said additional mechanisms should be implemented to encourage competition in the industry and further lower the cost of medicines.
Responding to a call by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to foster vibrant competition in the pharmaceutical industry, PHAP said price negotiation, pooled procurement, and private sector partnership are mechanisms that must be implemented to drive medicine prices down.
“Countries with low medicine prices employ a single-payer system where the government negotiates and purchases on behalf of their people,” PHAP said in a statement.
The group said at present, mechanisms have been in place to encourage further competition to reduce medicine prices under the Universal Health Care Act and the National Integrated Cancer Control Act.
PHAP also noted generics already dominate Philippine pharmaceutical by volume at present.
Such dominance, it said, is driving medicine prices down and is providing a broad price range and treatment options to government, physicians, and patients.
“PHAP…shares the goal of the government to ignite competition in the pharmaceutical industry as the primary means to lower medicine prices,” the group said adding it will continue working with the Philippine Competition Commission to establish an environment conducive to innovation and a level playing field for inclusive growth.
The group said its members are governed by a strict Code of Practice and are also covered by foreign laws to ensure integrity in the conduct of businesses.
