ROXAS LAUDS POLITICAL WILL OF
SENATE TO PASS MEDICINES BILL

Senator Mar Roxas foresees smooth sailing for the medicines bill given the political will shown by the Senate in having its version approved on second reading.

He also urged the President to immediately certify Senate Bill No. 1658, which consolidates several proposalsincluding Roxas' Senate Bill No. 101into a package of tools to ensure access to quality affordable medicines.

"I thank my colleagues in the Senate for their overwhelming support for the Quality Affordable Medicines bill. We look forward to the House version and continue to keep an open mind so we can come up with the best law for the people," he said.

"The Administration certified it as urgent in the last Congress, and it has committed to do the same now. Ultimately, it will depend on the administration's political will that would decide the fate of these measures," he added.

The chairs of the health and trade committees, namely, Senators Mar Roxas and Pia Cayetano, called on everyone to set aside political differences and demonstrate bicameral and bipartisan support.

"Arguments as to which chamber has a better version only serve the interests of big pharmaceutical firms. Any delay will be exploited by the pharmaceutical lobby out to protect their own interests to the detriment of the people," Roxas stressed.

First among these measures are the proposed amendments to the Intellectual Property Code which seek to allow the parallel importation of more affordable medicines from abroad; support the generics industry by adopting the "early working" principle and to disallow the grant of new patents on grounds of "new use;" and give ample muscle to the government through a framework for government use and compulsory licensing.

"Other countries have used the same tools with undeniable success. They have amended their patent laws to adopt internationally accepted best practices that have made medicines more affordable and accessible," he said.

The committees also recommend strengthening the Bureau of Food and Drug to serve as a counterfoil to attempts to bring in fake or substandard medicines by allowing BFAD to retain its operating income from fees and other charges so it could upgrade its facilities and beef up its human resources.

The substitute bill also contains provisions allowing the President to impose drug price ceilings in times of calamity, public health emergencies, events that cause artificial and unreasonable price hikes, the prevalence of illegal price manipulation and whenever prevailing prices have risen to unreasonable levels. Roxas said that this mechanism is patterned after the provisions of the Price Act.

The committee report also recommends the creation of a Congressional Oversight Committee on Quality Affordable Medicines, and allocating an initial P25 million to the Department of Health for the implementation of these measures.