DOH, PHAP: No increase in medicine prices for now

The Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday there is no increase in the prices of medicine in the country despite the difficulties caused by the conflict in the Middle East.

In a Balitanghali interview, DOH spokesperson Undersecretary Albert Domingo said that no cost increases will be felt until June 2026.

He said additional costs will mostly be caused by difficulties in logistics and transportation.

“Hindi lang ang gamot, lahat naman ‘yan eh pati mga gulay, pati mga ibang mga bagay ay naaapektuhan dahil sa sigalot sa Gitnang Silangan. Tuloy pa rin po ang mga presyo, walang tumataas,” he said.

(It’s not just the medicine, all of it will follow, including the vegetables, and even the other items will be affected because of the Middle East conflict. The prices of medicines will not increase.)

Domingo shared that the government was prepared to cover the excess cost of medicine and medical supplies should prices increase by July.

“Sa mundo ng kalusugan, meron tayong financing arm, 'yan po ang Philhealth. Ang Philhealth ay maaaring magtaas ng benepisyo basta po sigurado at nag-ongoing na ‘yung ating mga usapan sa ating mga industriya na tama ‘yung deklarasyon na ito ba talaga ‘yung nakasulat sa libro nila na pasweldo, pakuryente, pagasolina,” he shared.

(In the world of medicine, we have a financing arm, which is the PhilHealth. Philhealth may increase benefits as long as it is certain and our talks with the industry is ongoing with the proper declartion if this is what is really declared in their books for the salaries, electricity, and fuel.)

“Basta ang importante po sa amin is ‘yung sinasabi namin dati na unbundling or breakdown nung mga costs para makita natin ‘yung mga libro kung ano ba dito talaga ‘yung dahilan nung pagtaas nung presyo,” he added.

(What is important for us is the unbundling or breakdown of costs so we can see in the books what really caused the increase.)

Meanwhile, Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) president Dr. Diana Edralin said that delays in medicine delivery were due to re-routing schemes that had to be conducted due to the conflict.

This, however, was not felt as the delays were immediately solved.

“There were delays pero hindi naman po nagkaroon ng impact sa atin primarily because meron naman po tayong stocks or buffers. So, there were delays po for a couple of days. Some of them were weeks. Pero in terms of the impact sa ating mga pasyente, sa ating mga supply, sa mga drugstores at sa mga ospital, hindi naman po naapektuhan dahil naagapan po natin 'yun,” she shared.

(There were delays but it didn't really cause any impact on us, primarily because we have stocks or buffers. So, there were delays for a couple of days. Some of them were weeks. But in terms of the impact on our patients and our supply in drugstores and hospitals, it didn’t really affect us because we were able to mitigate that.)

Edralin said that as of now, the prices of medicine remain stable as companies bore the brunt of increasing jet fuel prices.

Currently, companies are shouldering 25% to 30% of the increase of the distribution cost.

“Ito po 'yung aming ambag para hindi maramdaman ng mga pasyente (This is our contribution so the patients won’t feel it),” she said.

“Pero siyempre, hanggang kailan (But of course, until when)?” she added.

PHAP is now looking into a sustainable alternative to ensure that patients will not suffer from price increase. —AOL, GMA News