NGO seeks solution to high medicine prices

The top 10 causes of mortality and morbidity in the country are diseases which could easily be treated with drugs, but prevailing drug prices are relatively high for the average Filipino consumer.

Further studies also show that marketing expenses incurred by drug companies total to as much as 25 percent of retail cost. According to independent analysts, these marketing expenditures include advertising and promotional tools used by pharmaceutical industries to secure their sales.

Last November, an investigation into the patent overpricing of essential drugs in the market was initiated by Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas III who was then the House majority leader.

Roxas, whose present position puts him in line to curb drug price hikes, said, "The heart of the matter is that many lives are lost because health care is beyond the reach of ordinary Filipinos."

A comprehensive study shows that drug prices can be reduced through the following measures: tax relief on drugs; strict implementation of the Generics Act; decreasing the market cost of drugs by drug companies; and restraining graft practices in the procurement of drugs.

Esperanza Dowling, executive director of the Philippine Federation for Natural Family Planning, warned that "the long-suffering masses are major victims of multinational operation in the industry."

Drug companies could bring prices closer to affordable levels if they curtail some practices that drive production costs to the roof, she added. She cited one company which, she claimed, has a virtual monopoly of local drug manufacturing or tolling and which, according to some studies, charges among the highest tolling rates in Asia.

A complaint filed last year with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has raised questions on some contracted expenses of the firm, which add to the spiraling of drug prices.