Senior citizens to benefit most from drug price cap — DOH’s Duque

The elderly Filipinos who commonly take maintenance medications will benefit the most from the implementation of drug price caps in the country, according to the Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday.

During a press briefing in Manila, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that out of the over 100 million population in the Philippines, around 7% or seven million are senior citizens.

"'Yun ang impact, immediate sa kanila. On top of their senior citizen discount, mayroon pa silang MDRP [maximum drug retail prices] na mga halos kalahati ang mababawas," he said.

Duque also pointed out that the annual treatment cost for cancer which ranges from P1.5 million to P5 million will substantially be reduced due to the imposition of price ceilings for certain medicines.

"Ang cancer mas madalas po itong mangyari sa elderly age group," he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed an executive order which puts price caps on selected medicines so that they may be accessed by more Filipinos.

The Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) previously said that price regulation of medicines will kill small retailers in the country.

Duque, on the other hand, said that as medicine prices go down, the volume of consumers would also expand. Hence, the profit of those in the pharmaceutical industry will not be compromised.

"Tingin ko sa bandang huli dahil mas dadami ang taong makakabili ng kanilang mga dating mahal na produkto na bababa ang presyo, dadami naman ang kanilang consumers, dadami ang tatangkilik dito po sa kanilang mga produkto," he said.

The price regulation measure would cover medicines for hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, neonatal diseases and major cancers, high cost treatments for chronic renal disease, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Duque said that lower out-of-pocket expenditures will be observed among the consumers once the EO takes effect 90 days after it was signed. — RSJ, GMA News