The Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) expressed support on the use of price negotiations to strengthen government’s leverage in purchasing medicines.
“In this time when resources are scarce, institutionalizing price negotiations will help the government maximize limited resources and enhance the support provided to Filipinos,” PHAP Executive Director Teodoro B. Padilla said.
Padilla added that price negotiation strengthens the bargaining power of the government to drive prices down, “eventually providing medicines for free or at significantly lowered prices for the people.”
The Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) recently released a draft joint administrative order (JAO) that tackles the constitution of a Price Negotiation Board.
The Price Negotiation Board is expected to “recognize that competition through public bidding is more effective in determining an efficient market price.”
PHAP, representing the research-based medicines, vaccines and diagnostics sector in the country, said it continues to collaborate with the government on strategies to make medicines available and affordable through competition.
Padilla said they believe there are tools available that government can use to drive down prices of medicines. He noted these tools include pooled procurement and price negotiations.”
The Phap said the pharmaceutical industry has been adversely affected by lockdown measures against the Covid-19 pandemic. The significant contraction in the prescription market and unexpected disruptions in the supply chain, along with the imposition of mandatory price caps on medicines added to the burden of pharmaceutical companies struggling to recover losses, the PHAP added.
Instead of mandatory price regulation, other countries implement price negotiation to improve medicine affordability and availability, the group said. It cited as example the People’s Republic of China, which introduced a price-negotiation mechanism in 2017. Doing so allowed the Communist Party-led nation to achieve discounts of up to 71 percent by consolidating medicine requirements among its provinces.
In the Philippines, public-private partnerships that produced consolidated volume across government hospitals have resulted in major discounts of up to 50 percent to 74 percent for kidney transplant drugs and breast cancer treatments, according to the Phap.
Facing the responsibility to provide life-saving medicines to Filipinos, the Phap also emphasized the need to continue investments in pharmaceutical research, especially with the ongoing pandemic.
“Pharmaceutical research has always been overlooked but all the benefits we enjoy from science today stem from it. Research and development must continue for us to fight Covid-19,” Padilla said. “Also, there is no better time than today to prepare for any future pandemics.”
“In this time when resources are scarce, institutionalizing price negotiations will help the government maximize limited resources and enhance the support provided to Filipinos,” PHAP Executive Director Teodoro B. Padilla said.
Padilla added that price negotiation strengthens the bargaining power of the government to drive prices down, “eventually providing medicines for free or at significantly lowered prices for the people.”
The Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) recently released a draft joint administrative order (JAO) that tackles the constitution of a Price Negotiation Board.
The Price Negotiation Board is expected to “recognize that competition through public bidding is more effective in determining an efficient market price.”
PHAP, representing the research-based medicines, vaccines and diagnostics sector in the country, said it continues to collaborate with the government on strategies to make medicines available and affordable through competition.
Padilla said they believe there are tools available that government can use to drive down prices of medicines. He noted these tools include pooled procurement and price negotiations.”
The Phap said the pharmaceutical industry has been adversely affected by lockdown measures against the Covid-19 pandemic. The significant contraction in the prescription market and unexpected disruptions in the supply chain, along with the imposition of mandatory price caps on medicines added to the burden of pharmaceutical companies struggling to recover losses, the PHAP added.
Instead of mandatory price regulation, other countries implement price negotiation to improve medicine affordability and availability, the group said. It cited as example the People’s Republic of China, which introduced a price-negotiation mechanism in 2017. Doing so allowed the Communist Party-led nation to achieve discounts of up to 71 percent by consolidating medicine requirements among its provinces.
In the Philippines, public-private partnerships that produced consolidated volume across government hospitals have resulted in major discounts of up to 50 percent to 74 percent for kidney transplant drugs and breast cancer treatments, according to the Phap.
Facing the responsibility to provide life-saving medicines to Filipinos, the Phap also emphasized the need to continue investments in pharmaceutical research, especially with the ongoing pandemic.
“Pharmaceutical research has always been overlooked but all the benefits we enjoy from science today stem from it. Research and development must continue for us to fight Covid-19,” Padilla said. “Also, there is no better time than today to prepare for any future pandemics.”
