The party-list group Anakalusugan has called on government to remove the 12 percent expanded value added tax on vitamins and maintenance medicines, saying this will be the best Christmas gift for Filipinos who have been bearing the brunt of high medical costs.
The health advocacy group noted the country’s medical inflation rate is expected to be the highest in Asia and is predicted to hit 13.1 percent this year.
“The double-digit medical inflation rate means the cost of medication is becoming more prohibitive. Making vitamins and maintenance medicines VAT-free will be the best Christmas gift that the government can give to Filipinos. We call on President Rodrigo Duterte to seriously consider our proposal,” Anakalusugan said in a statement.
“We should look at health not just from a prescriptive point of view but from preventive as well. This is why making vitamins more accessible for Filipinos is just as crucial as ensuring that our people are able to take their maintenance medicines.”
The group cited a study undertaken by the World Health Organization in 2016 which classified the Philippines as one of the top countries where less than 30 percent of the population have access to essential drugs.
“This means almost 70 percent of Filipinos are deprived of the medicines they need. Removing the VAT on vitamins and maintenance medicines will also bring down Filipinos’ out-of-pocket expenditure for medicines,” Anakalusugan added.
Filipinos, according to a Euromonitor study, are the sixth top consumers of vitamins and minerals worldwide.
A survey conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute likewise showed that the most common dietary supplements taken by Filipinos are multivitamins and minerals, B-complex and vitamin C.