Believing that the Universal Health Care will take a "backseat" as the sin tax bill will not be passed before Congress adjourned this December, Senator Imee Marcos has said that all prescription medicines should be exempted from value-added tax.
"Why don’t we remove the VAT from all the prescription medicines," she asked.
"Why don’t we remove VAT from all medicines because no one wants to get sick and to have to buy medicine so let’s do that first of all…at least let’s help the public a little bit," she added.
Marcos also took potshots at the Department of Health for the possible delay in the implementation of universal health for all Filipinos.
She told reporters in an interview that until now, Health Secretary Francisco Duque has no clear details on how they will roll out UHC.
"The truth is—until now, we don’t know the real cost of the universal health care, when exactly is the rollout, how much will be released each year," said Marcos.
She also questioned if the DOH can do it or will the medicines end up expired and stored in storage warehouses. "That’s our problem," she said.
She also raised doubts on the absorptive capacity of PhilHealth which will take charge of the funds for the UHC implementation.
"Ngayon pa lang, katakut-takot na corruption na sa Philhealth, paano pa if bibigyan sila ng bilyones," she aqid.
In the meantime, she said the government can remove VAT on prescriptive medicines.
She said the government had already earlier exempted from VAt medication for diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension.
"VAT can be removed from prescriptive medicine after all. Why don’t we remove other medicine as well…It seems that we’re making it seem like a luxury item," she said.
The TRAIN law, he said, had earlier exempted maintenance medication. "Nothing happened, the sky did not fall," sakd Marcos referring to the Tax Reform for Acceleration law which exemoted diabetes, high chlolesterol and hypertension medicines from VAT.
She said the proposed tax increases on liquor products, alcohol, gin, even e-cigarettes, stemmed from the need to fund the UHC, which has been signed by President Rodrigo Duterte into law last February.
The Senate is currently hearing proposed measures to impose higher excise tax on liquor, heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes that would help with funding the UHC.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the House of Representatives' Committee on Health on Friday lauded the Department of Health (DOH) for its swift action on the suspended bidding for pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs).
Rep. Angelina Tan of Quezon, the panel's chairperson, said the DoH's call for a swift 30-day review of the pediatric vaccines for pneumococcal diseases was a welcome development.
“The assessment must really be finished soon considering the continued threat posed by pneumonia on children,” Tan said.
Tan made the statement in light of the DOH’s order to the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) to complete the assessment for the PCV tender within one month.
In an earlier press briefing, Dr. Anna Ong Lim, president of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines, revealed, “Pneumonia is a very common disease in children. Of the hundreds of countries in the world, the Philippines is included in the top 15 countries in terms of pneumonia deaths, and those 15 countries are responsible for 75% of all deaths from pneumonia.”
Dr. Lim also noted that both PCV10 and PCV13 help in controlling the overall disease burden from pneumococcal diseases.
Earlier this month, the DOH suspended the first call for tender for pneumonia vaccines in response to public clamor that biddings should be open and competitive.
“Biddings should not favor a single brand,” Tan said.
“I’m into open, competitive bidding because bids should not lean on certain companies. Pag nagseset ka ng medicine and supplies that you need, dumadaan sa recommendation ng HTAC at tinitignan nila kung ano yung cost-effective,” she added.
Medical experts have said open competitive bidding for vaccines is good for the Philippines because an open bid can save hundreds of millions of pesos year after year that can be used for public health initiatives by the government and save more lives and address more diseases.
Another advantage of open bidding is that it will also help ensure the government and the public benefit from competitive pricing and incentives from the broadest set of possible bidders, they said.
Health Undersecretary Rolando Enrique Domingo, in turn, revealed that although the DOH has always called for open tenders, the original call for bidding for PCVs had specifications that catered to just one vaccine brand.
