Marcos wants to boost PH medicine production
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met with the members of the Private Sector Advisory Council on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Malacañan. (Photo from the Facebook page of the Presidential Communications Office)
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. wants the Philippines to enhance its local drug manufacturing and secure a stockpile for emergencies.
According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Marcos made the statement on Wednesday during a meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) healthcare sector group in Malacañan Palace.
“Let’s maximize the local production. The initial reason why this came up is the supply problems that we encountered during the lockdowns so we need to be prepared. We should be able to produce the local supply of essential medicines,” he said.
According to the Palace, the Department of Health (DOH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be working with the private sector to identify medicines that can be produced locally and maximize the utilization of the capacity of local pharmaceutical manufacturers, in particular the production of basic medicines for poor Filipino patients such as anti-tuberculosis drugs.
During the meeting, it was agreed that the PSAC should monitor new technologies in healthcare that can be used for geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas and recommend those to the DOH and PhilHealth.
The PSAC said it will also study the feasibility of establishing remote diagnostics centers and assess new medical technologies and their costs.
In line with the president’s commitment to lower drug prices and improve access to medicines, the PSAC pursued the strengthening of the FDA through the digitalization of its information systems (IS).
This project includes the upgrading of 10 IS, such as the electronic certificate of the product registration information system.
The overall digitalization rate is 72.5 percent, and the target for full digitalization is August this year, the PSAC reported.
The advisory council said that once digitalized other systems, such as new chemical entity renewal, certificate of listing of the identical drug product (CLIDP), and post-marketing surveillance, shall follow.
Among those who attended the PSAC meeting were Sabin Aboitiz Strategic convenor president and CEO Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.; Paolo Maximo Borromeo, Healthcare lead president and CEO of Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc; Fr. Nicanor Austriaco Jr., Healthcare Sector Member and Filipino-American molecular biologist; Dr. Nicanor Montoya, Healthcare Sector Member and CEO of Medicard Philippines, Inc.; DOH officer in charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, and CHED chairperson J. Prospero de Vera III.
