consumers' action for empowerment

A position paper submitted to the Quality and Accessible Medicines Oversight Committee (QAMOC) on the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008
(19 March 2012)

CONSUMERS' ACTION FOR EMPOWERMENT works on the premise that health is a basic human right and it includes the right to accessible, safe and affordable essential medicines.

We believe that the key to improving people's access to affordable and safe essential medicines and other goods and services can only be achieved when people are provided full economic and social opportunities in a democratic society.

From the start, the Cheaper Medicines Act had its inherent flaws and was not expected to effectively bring down the prices of medicines. The act failed to address exorbitant drug prices and failed to promote and ensure access of majority of the people to quality affordable medicines mainly because:

First, the law while avowed to help generic firms to develop quality and affordable generic medicines does not truly support the development of a local drug industry. The law favours parallel importation of branded medicines from countries where these are more affordable even if their generic drug equivalents are available in the Philippines. Parallel importation promotes dependence and virtually kills whatever is left of the Filipino drug industry.

Second, the law does not address the monopoly control of transnational corporations on patents. Though 80 to 90 percent of essential drugs sold in the Philippines is already off-patent, their generic equivalents still cannot be manufactured and made available to the people. To date, local drug manufacturers produce only 200 of 600 essential medicines. The government fails to fully support local drug manufacturers.

Third, the price of medicines has been left to unregulated free-market forces. The President of the Philippines was given the power to set price ceilings of medicine but transnational drug corporations in the marketing, distributing and pricing of medicines still maintain the control of drug prices.

Consumers’ Action for Empowerment believes that the problem of unabated high prices of medicines can be abated through the implementation of national policies and programs that will:

Establish a self-reliant nationalist drug industry that is responsive to the health needs of the people;

Develop technology that will extract and refine raw materials and chemicals for medicine production;

Improve the potentials of herbal medicine and natural components that are locally available as complementary forms in health management;

Create a temporary drug price regulatory board with representation of stakeholders from people's organizations, consumers, academe, health and industry professionals, etc.

Support the genuine development of the local drug industry and provide incentives to local drug manufacturers in the manufacture of essential medicines;

Facilitate selective importation of essential medicines t not locally produced and available and have gone through extensive testing for safety and efficacy;

Implement the National Drugs Policy and Generics Law of 1988.

The need of Filipinos for efficacious and affordable medicines can only be met when a strong national health care system is in place and under a government whose policies are in the best interest of the people.##

CONSUMERS' ACTION FOR EMPOWERMENT works on the premise that health is a basic human right and it includes the right to accessible, safe and affordable essential medicines.

We believe that the key to improving people's access to affordable and safe essential medicines and other goods and services can only be achieved when people are provided full economic and social opportunities in a democratic society.

From the start, the Cheaper Medicines Act had its inherent flaws and was not expected to effectively bring down the prices of medicines. The act failed to address exorbitant drug prices and failed to promote and ensure access of majority of the people to quality affordable medicines mainly because:

First, the law while avowed to help generic firms to develop quality and affordable generic medicines does not truly support the development of a local drug industry. The law favours parallel importation of branded medicines from countries where these are more affordable even if their generic drug equivalents are available in the Philippines. Parallel importation promotes dependence and virtually kills whatever is left of the Filipino drug industry.

Second, the law does not address the monopoly control of transnational corporations on patents. Though 80 to 90 percent of essential drugs sold in the Philippines is already off-patent, their generic equivalents still cannot be manufactured and made available to the people. To date, local drug manufacturers produce only 200 of 600 essential medicines. The government fails to fully support local drug manufacturers.

Third, the price of medicines has been left to unregulated free-market forces. The President of the Philippines was given the power to set price ceilings of medicine but transnational drug corporations in the marketing, distributing and pricing of medicines still maintain the control of drug prices.

Consumers’ Action for Empowerment believes that the problem of unabated high prices of medicines can be abated through the implementation of national policies and programs that will:

Establish a self-reliant nationalist drug industry that is responsive to the health needs of the people;

Develop technology that will extract and refine raw materials and chemicals for medicine production;

Improve the potentials of herbal medicine and natural components that are locally available as complementary forms in health management;

Create a temporary drug price regulatory board with representation of stakeholders from people's organizations, consumers, academe, health and industry professionals, etc.

Support the genuine development of the local drug industry and provide incentives to local drug manufacturers in the manufacture of essential medicines;

Facilitate selective importation of essential medicines t not locally produced and available and have gone through extensive testing for safety and efficacy;

Implement the National Drugs Policy and Generics Law of 1988.

The need of Filipinos for efficacious and affordable medicines can only be met when a strong national health care system is in place and under a government whose policies are in the best interest of the people.##