CHEAPER MEDICINES. Senator Manuel Roxas II explains how the consolidated cheaper medicines bill will lower the prices of medicines just before the Senate ratified the measure Tuesday. Video taken by INQUIRER.net reporter Veronica Uy at the Senate on April 29, 2008.
MANILA, Philippines -- Congress has ratified the bill that seeks to lower the prices of medicines in the country.
The bill will now be transmitted to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for signing.
Immediately after the calling of the roll Tuesday, Deputy Majority Floor Leader Neptali Gonzales moved for the ratification of the bicameral conference report on the proposed Cheaper Medicines Act.
But Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casiño stood up and asked that he be given at least 10 minutes to read the contents of the report, prompting Gonzales to withdraw his motion. The motion was later reinstated and carried.
Earlier in the day, the Senate adopted the bicameral committee report that would, among others, allow the parallel importation of patented medicines from other countries where these were more affordable.
Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II said that it took lawmakers three years, hundreds of hours spent on committee hearings and technical working group meetings, and four months of bicameral committee discussions, to finalize the bill.
Roxas, principal author of the Senate version of the bill and co-chairman of the bicameral conference committee, said he was happy that "at last, it's done, but the work isn't over."
He recalled that he was sued by a major pharmaceutical company when he was trade and industry secretary for bringing in affordable medicines from abroad.
"Even then, there was a great deal of pressure for the government not to compete with these drug companies. Now that the law is passed, not just the government but even the private sector can import drugs or medicines from another country as long as they comply with the guidelines to be set by the Bureau of Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health," he said.
The senator said legislation to strengthen the generics industry will also be part of his agenda. "We need to put together a long-term plan to help and support our generics industry," he added.
The law, officially the "Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008," seeks to:
• prohibit the grant of new patents based only on newly-discovered uses of a known drug substance; • allow local generics firms to test, produce and register their generic versions of patented drugs, so these can be sold right upon patent expiry ("early working principle"); • allow the government use of patented drugs when the public interest is at stake; • give the President the power to price ceilings on various drugs, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Health. These drugs include those for chronic illnesses, for prevention of diseases, and those in the Philippine National Drug Formulary (PNDF) Essential Drug List; • strengthen the BFAD so that it could ensure the safety of medicines, by allowing it to retain its revenues for upgrading of its facilities, equipment and human resources; and • ensure the availability of affordable medicines by requiring drug outlets to carry a variety of brands for each drug, including those sourced from "parallel importation," to give the consumer more choices.
He thanked his bicameral committee co-chairman, Representative Antonio Alvarez, and the other members of the panel for signing the report.
"We may have had our differences but it was all worth it because the final version of this vital health measure is really a product of vigorous debate and comprehensive study," he said.
As of Monday night, 11 members of the House panel had signed the bicameral conference report.
Senator Pia Cayetano, who chairs the health committee and member of the Senate panel, signed the bicameral conference report Monday night.
This Tuesday morning, the report was signed by Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, a member of the Senate contingent to the bicameral conference committee.
Roxas was the third and last of the Senate panel to affix his signature to the measure.
The senator said that with the passage of the law, the next step would be to call for an Affordable Medicines Summit with all sectors represented where a concrete implementation plan can be forged, and "to convene and activate a congressional oversight committee to make sure that the good intentions of this new law are indeed carried out."
Roxas said he would also look into how government and provincial hospitals could import modern equipment for poor patients at less cost.
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