Borrowing the words of the richest man in the world Mr. Bill Gates that “Helping the Poor is actually an investment” may be a good punch line in reminding our citizens to participate in pursuing the policy of the government to eradicate the cartel on pharmaceutical products monopolized by the multinational companies.
The Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) was created in 2005 to spearhead the programs and activities of the government to bring down the prices of the medicines in the market and to tear down the anticompetitive attitude of these multinational companies.
The flagship project of PITC embarked on Three (3) strategic points. First the Expansion of Product Range which includes parallel importation, locally sourced branded generic and locally sourced true generic products. Second, the Expansion of Distribution Network establishing a nationwide network of privately-operated drug stores as well as local government operated retail drug outlets to ensure accessibility and availability of quality low-priced medicines. Third, the Advocacy and Information campaign to increase awareness about generic medicines and educate the general public that safe and efficacious medicines are not necessarily expensive or branded.
In fourteenth congress has finally approved RA 9502, the Cheaper Medicine Law. This new act RA 9502 has shown the government its strong advocacy to solve the issue on expensive medicines with heavy measures. The implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of this act was published in 2 broadsheets. Only the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) is perhaps not yet submitted to the President for his approval.
This advocacy to bring down the prices of medicines in the market is participated by our patriotic leaders like former senator Mar Roxas and other concerned government officials whose interest is to ease down the burden of the public on expensive medicines. There must be other partners who have introduced cheaper medicines in the country through parallel importation but they were not given credit. Instead, they were sued by these multinational companies. Even the government was sued by these multinational companies for trying to encourage parallel importation to bring down drug prices.
It will be recalled in the significant decision of the Supreme court, GlaxosmithKline, Pfizer and Roche Phil. versus Khaled Mehmood and Muhammad Ateeque, both directors of Sahar International Trading Inc. (SITI) alleging that these directors were engaged in illegal and unauthorized sale and distribution of unregistered imported medicines (Through parallel importation).
Both the DOJ and the Court of Appeals (CA) dismissed the complaint of these multinational companies for failure to sustain any indictment. In sustaining the dismissal of the DOJ and the CA, the Supreme Court in its broad wisdom of justice ruled against the complaining multinational companies and pointed out that they failed to prove that the respondents’ act of parallel importation of medicines is prohibited by law.
In the literary explanation of the Supreme court in its decision challenging the provisions of the Special Law on Counterfeit Drugs (SLCD), Roma Drug et al vs. the RTC of Guagua, Pampanga, et al., G.R. No. 149907, April 16, 2009. “Even worse is the fact that the law is not content with simply banning, at civil costs, the importation of unregistered drugs. It equates the importers of such drugs, many of whom motivated to do so out of altruism or basic human love, with the malevolents who would alter or counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs for reasons of profit at the expense of public safety. Note that the SLCD is a special law, and the traditional treatment of penal provisions of special law is that of malum prohibitum or punishable regardless of motive or criminal intent. For a law that is intended to help save lives. The SLCD has revealed itself as a heartless, soulless legislative piece.
The challenged provisions of the SLCD apparently proscribe a range of constitutionally permissible behavior. It is laudable that with the passage or Rep. Act No. 9502, the State has reversed course and allowed for a sensible and compassionate approach with respect to the importation of pharmaceutical drugs urgently necessary for the people’s constitutionally-recognized right to health”.
It is impossible that the whisper of these multinational companies to prevent the government from pursuing its program on public health prevail against the constitutionally-recognized right of the common people on health. The interests of the Nation must always come before any personal considerations. The interest of the few (cartels) must not take precedence against the interest of the majority. Whatever whispered in a closed door meeting must be revealed in public forum as long as it is public interest.
