MANILA, Philippines — Medicine prices remain stable despite the rising costs of goods and services, the Department of Health said on Wednesday.
In a briefing, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said the agency monitored a slight increase in the price of a hypertensive drug last December due to inflation and devaluation of Philippine peso.
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"But when we look at it as a whole, we have stable prices of medicines. This is because of Executive Order 155," Vergeire said, referring to the order signed by former President Rodrigo Duterte in December 2021 that regulated the retail prices of essential drugs.
The order brought down the prices of 121 drug molecules or 204 drug formulations by as much as 93%. These include medicines for hypertension, diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, colorectal, lung, and breast cancers.
The full implementation of the drug price cap, which aims to improve the public’s access to healthcare, started in March 2022.
"So our medicines remain accessible," Vergeire said.
Inflation accelerated to 8.1% year-on-year in December. Data showed this was the fastest reading since November 2008. — Gaea Katreena Cabico