Press Release
August 15, 2009

ROXAS VOWS STRICT MONITORING
OF MEDICINE PRICE CAP COMPLIANCE

FIGHT STILL ON; MORE DRUGS PUSHED FOR PRICE REDUCTION

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today vowed to closely monitor compliance by multinational drug companies and pharmacies with the executive order imposing a 50% slash in the prices of 21 essential but expensive medicines taking effect today.

He said the Congressional Oversight Committee on Cheaper Medicines would periodically check if drugstores indeed reduce by half the prices of the 5 medicines covered by Executive Order No. 821 and if drug companies abide by their promise to voluntarily bring down the prices of 16 other essential medicines.

"Nagpapasalamat po tayo sa taumbayan sa suportang ibinigay nila sa ating laban para mapababa ang presyo ng mga gamot (I thank the public for joining my fight for cheaper medicines)," said the primary author of the Universally Accessible, Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act.

"Ngunit 'di pa tapos ang laban. Marami pa pong mahahalagang gamot na kailangang babaan ang presyo, at 'di tayo titigil hanggang 'di ginagawa ng gobyerno ang trabaho nito ng kumpleto (But the fight is not yet over. Many essential medicines remain expensive, and I will not stop until the government completes its job)," he declared.

Executive Order No. 821 imposing price cuts on anti-hypertensive, anti-cholesterol, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer medicines was signed by President Arroyo last month after drug firms refused voluntary price cuts on such products. It takes effect today (August 15).

While Roxas is not satisfied with President Arroyo's failure to fully use her powers to lower prices of all essential medicines, he said he feels his first victory especially when consumers can now start buying the half-priced medicines in local drugstores.

President Arroyo signed EO 821 after much public criticism from Roxas and other proponents of the Cheaper Medicines Law, and even pointedly berated Roxas in nher State of the Nation Address before the joint session of Congress when it re-opened sessions last July.

Under EO 821, Mrs. Arroyo limited to five those essential medicines to be placed under the Maximum Retail Price (MRP).

These are the anti-hypertensive drug Amlodipine (including its S-isomer and all salt form), with a mandatory price range from P9.60 to P38.50 depending on its strength; the anti-cholesterol drug Atorvastatin (P34.45 to P91.79); the antibiotic/antibacterial drug Azithromycin and all its salt form (P108.50 to P468); and the anti-cancer drugs Cytarabine (P240 to P1,980) and Doxorubicin and all their salt form (P1,465 to P2,265.74).

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