The Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines on Tuesday said it was seeking an audience with Health Secretary Francisco Duque to discuss how to widen health care coverage and lower medicine prices.
The association, which groups research-based pharmaceutical and health care firms, wants to discuss possible areas of cooperation on special medicine pricing for patients to lower total treatment costs by as much as 84 percent.
“We are reaching out to the government as a partner so that it does not have to resort to price control which could be contentious and counter-productive as other countries that have tried it had found out,” said Teodoro Padilla, executive director of PHAP.
The pharmaceutical and health care companies include brands such as Abbott, GSK, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Zuellig Pharma.
According to PHAP, the Universal Health Care Act already covers the procurement of drugs which will eventually translate to lower prices.
“If more resources are allocated to the health of the people, the poor will benefit which is the essence of Universal Healthcare,” Padilla said.
President Rodrigo Duterte in February signed into law the Universal Health Care Act, which automatically enrolled all Filipinos in the National Health Insurance Program.
Under the measure, those who have the capacity to pay are classified as direct contributors, while indigents and senior citizens are classified as indirect contributors sponsored by the government.
Padilla said provisions of the law cover centrally negotiated procurement of drugs, the expansion of primary care drug benefit, and the early access to innovative medicines.