ROXAS THANKS SENATE COLLEAGUES FOR MEDS BILL OK
SENATE RATIFIES QUALITY AFFORDABLE MEDICINES BILL

Senator Mar Roxas thanks his colleagues in the Senate for immediately adopting and ratifying the Quality Affordable Medicines Bill.

"Nagpapasalamat ako sa mga kasama ko sa Senado sa kanilang maagap na aksyon tungo sa mabisa at abot-kayang gamot para sa mga Pilipino," he said.

"I'd like to thank our conferees--Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Pia Cayetano--for all the hours that they spent in the negotiations with their counterparts. I also wish to thank this chamber which has so steadfastly and assiduously supported the concept and the program of lowering prices of medicines in our country," he added.

On Tuesday, the Senate immediately ratified the bicameral conference committee report recommending a unified "Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008," after Roxas sponsored it in plenary. Because of the Senate's support, "We now have a consolidated version that is ready for signing by the President into law. That will be a major step towards providing affordable quality health care for all," he stressed.

"We are hopeful that this will lead towards the lowering of prices of medicines. This is not the be-all and end-all towards providing the people affordable and quality medicines and healthcare, but certainly this is an important first step," he said.

Roxas, principal author of the law and co-chair of the bicameral conference committee, also thanked the members of bicam, led by his co-chair Rep. Antonio Alvarez, for signing and approving the report.

"Though we have had differences, our vigorous debates and comprehensive study has produced this final version of this vital health measure," the long-time advocate of affordable medicines said.

As of press time, the House is in the process of ratifying the same report. Roxas is confident that the House will be able to do so in time for Labor Day.

The senator said that with the assured passage of the medicines law, its proponents must continue to work together to ensure that it is properly implemented by the Department of Health and Office of the President.

"Our next steps are to call for an Affordable Medicines Summit with all sectors represented so that a concrete implementation plan can be forged, and secondly, we need to convene and activate a congressional oversight committee to make sure that the good intentions of this new law are indeed carried out," Roxas said.

Among other things, the "Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008" seeks to:

• Strengthen competition by amending the Intellectual Property Code to:

  • Allow the "parallel importation" of patented medicines from other countries where these are more affordable;

  • Prohibiting the grant of new patents based only on newly-discovered uses of a known drug substance;

  • Allowing local generics firms to test, produce and register their generic versions of patented drugs, so these can be sold right upon patent expiry ("early working principle");

  • Allow the government use of patented drugs when the public interest is at stake;

• Give the President the power to price ceilings on various drugs, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of health. These drugs include those for chronic illnesses, for prevention of diseases, and those in the Philippine National Drug Formulary (PNDF) Essential Drug List;

• Strengthen the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) in order for it to ensure the safety of medicines, by allowing it to retain its revenues for upgrading of its facilities, equipment and human resources; and

• Ensure the availability of affordable medicines by requiring drug outlets to carry a variety of brands for each drug--including those sourced from "parallel importation"--to give the consumer more choices.