Think Bits
The poor can’t wait
By Ricky Poca
Cebu Daily News
First Posted 14:59:00 04/15/2008
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is absolutely correct in not pursuing the “generics only” clause under the proposed Cheap Medicine Bill. We cannot make poor patients wait much longer, she said. Apparently, the “generics only” provision is the only reason the bill is still pending in both houses of Congress; the Senate panel remains steadfast in not adopting the Lower House’s version of the “generics only” provision.
Poor people in our country do not have access to cheap, effective medicine. Drugs sold here are expensive compared to those sold in developing and underdeveloped countries in Asia. Doctors and pharmaceutical companies promote the sake and prescribing of expensive medicines because they are more effective than most generic drugs.
I would like to believe what most doctors say – that most generic medicines are not effective. But what are we going to do if majority of Filipinos cannot afford doctor-prescribed expensive medicines sold by highly profitable pharmaceutical distribution firms? It is scandalous and unconscionable that the government of a country with so many poor people allows the sale of desperately needed medicines at prices comparable to those in developed countries.
The Cheap Medicine Bill of Senator Mar Roxas seeks to make our country no longer look ridiculous in this respect. Roxas explains that medicines sold expensively in our country are being sold cheaper in many of our Asian neighbors, despite being of the same brand. The mark up here ranges from 40 to 70 percent (40 to 180 percent, according to the Philippine International Trading Corp.). Why is that so? Pharmaceutical distributors can best answer. And imagine the sighs of relief when Congress finally passes the Cheap Medicine Bill and the President ultimately signs it into law.
I guess the government must see to it that medicines that we import are of good quality. Political will is needed on this issue. For one, multinational drug companies that will be hurt by this bill will not give up easily. They will see to it that the law will not work because it will definitely have a huge negative impact on their profits. The pharmaceutical industry in our country is a multibillion-peso enterprise and many of these big companies will find it very difficult to give up the profits they’re so used to raking in.
The passage of the Cheap Medicine Bill is an imperative. It is also an opportunity for drug companies to exercise corporate social responsibility for the very people, especially the poor, who have given them huge profits for decades. We Filipinos have been pressed to the wall for so long a time by the high prices of medicine. It’s time government gave us break.
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The Inquirer headline last Saturday says, “Magdalo men seek pardon,” after some of them were convicted by a civilian court for attempting a coup d’état. The news item also says some of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s men are inclined to recommend to her to extend pardon to these junior military officers and soldiers.
After repeated coups in our country against duly constituted governments, since the time of President Corazon Aquino, I think it’s about time the government imposed the full force of the law against military “adventurists.” President Arroyo may personally forgive them, but they should be men enough to face the legal consequence of their dastardly act, which set back our economic gains.
We must send a clear message to the military that they can no longer get away with rebellion. Just giving them slaps on the wrist is the reason military officers and personnel are encouraged to accomplish similar feats. We already have two putsch leaders in the Senate, a sad fact that gives young officers the wrong idea.
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The Inquirer’s banner story yesterday is a warning about food riots. International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said “If food prices remain high, there will be war and other dire consequences for people in many developing countries.”
True enough, in Haiti, the government has collapsed amidst the anger of the people over its inability to deal with increasing food prices, which have resulted in looting and deadly protests. Haitian legislators have removed their Prime Minister, hoping to diffuse the violence on the streets.
I’d like to believe that we are in a far better situation than the Haitians or the other 36 nations suffering from a food crisis.
But we must help the government make sure food riots won’t happen here. We must be united and avoid blaming one another for what is happening to the country.
Let’s first work on the solutions to our rice problem. The stakes are too high if we do not work together now. After things settle down, after the solutions have worked out effectively, only then must we demand no-nonsense accountability.
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