ROXAS WELCOMES PGMA'S CALL FOR REMOVAL OF GENERICS-ONLY PROVISION

"I welcome the President's suggestion and call on her to exert all efforts to convince her allies in the House of Representatives to remove this contentious provision.

"The Affordable Medicines Act is right now 99% complete. I assure our people that we would be able to enact this landmark measure on or before Labor Day especially with the removal of the generics-only provision being advocated by the Lower House.

"The Senate version does not carry the generics-only provision. We see the need for a thorough study on how mandating doctors to prescribe only generics drugs would affect patients' rights and welfare. Our generics industry deserves urgent attention and support which can only arise from a more focused approach towards long-term reforms. Right now, the Senate health committee headed by Sen. Pia Cayetano is conducting hearings on this and other related bills.

"Congressman Antonio Alvarez, head of the House bicam panel and I have convened a bicameral technical working group that has been working during the legislative break on a suitable compromise that would balance patients' rights and welfare with access to more affordable generics drugs. Hopefully, the House panel will favorably consider the President's suggestion to speed up the process so that this much-awaited bill can finally become law.

"We intend to convene a bicameral conference committee upon the resumption of session to ensure that this bill will be signed into law as soon as possible as our collective gift to the nation on or before Labor Day.

"Meanwhile, as the key sponsor of the Affordable Medicines Act in the Senate, I call on the Department of Health to start working on a concrete action plan on how to use parallel importation to bring down the cost of medicines in the country.

"Once this plan is completed, I hope that we can convene an Affordable Medicines Conference to ensure the participation and cooperation of all sectors in the implementation of this landmark law."