Duque: Maybe I was given 2nd term at DOH to continue lobby for cheaper meds

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Tuesday said he was probably given a second shot to head the Department of Health (DOH) so he could continue lobbying to give the public better access to cheaper medicines.

"Siguro kaya ako ibinalik dito para after 10 years maisakatuparan 'yung second round ng MDRP," Duque said in jest at a press conference in Manila.

The first executive order regarding the imposition of Maximum Drug Retail Price (MDRP) was signed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2009. Duque was also at the helm of the DOH during that time.

Only five anti-hypertensive, anti-cholesterol, antibiotic, and anti-cancer medicines had been given maximum drug retail prices under Executive Order No. 821 series of 2009.

Asked why it took a decade to expand the scope to 87 medicines, Duque said: "Baka pwedeng sagutin ng may institutional memory kung bakit hindi na po ito pinalawig at pinahaba ang listahan for maximum drug retail price."

Before being appointed as DOH chief in 2017, Duque held the same post from 2005 to 2010. The agency has since been led by former secretaries Esperanza Cabral, Enrique Ona, Janette Garin, and Paulyn Ubial, before Duque's current reappointment.

President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed EO No. 104 to set maximum retail price on certain medicines and make it affordable to more Filipinos.

Duque explained that medicines are costly in the country because of limited competition, high demand, and markups added by stakeholders throughout the supply chain.

"Ang Philippine pharmaceutical market, we are heavily dependent on imports,"  DOH's Pharmaceutical Division chief Dr. Anna Melissa Guerrero said.

With the expanded MDRP, the price reduction on covered medicines could reach as high as 58%, she added.

Duque said senior citizens would benefit the most from the implementation of drug price caps. — Dona Magsino/MDM, GMA News