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THE 13th
Congres is expected to pass landmark legislation
promoting cheaper medicines during its special session
on June 4 to 6, but there is fear the absence of a
quorum will effectively prevent both houses of Congress
from doing so.
International aid group Oxfam’s Shalimar Vitan is
appealing to lawmakers to do their patriotic duty
regardless of the result of the last election and attend
the special session. “Win or lose, we hope the senators
and congressmen of the 13th Congress will finish this
landmark health legislation.”
The
Senate has already approved on third reading the Cheaper
Medicines Act or SB 2263, while the House had passed its
version, HB 6035, on second reading. The House is
supposed to approve the bill on third reading when the
session resumes on June 4. The bicameral conference will
be convened to reconcile the versions and approve the
final draft on or before June 6.
“It will
be a gross disservice to those who suffer ill health if
the bill is stopped on mere technicality,” said Vitan.
While
the passage of the Cheaper Medicines Act has the backing
of various sectors, representatives of the
Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association of the Philippines
(PHAP) are intensely lobbying against it.
PHAP
representatives were booted out of the House session
hall on February 18 for gross lobbying misconduct during
deliberations on the bill. The group attempted to stop
the discussion by asking some representatives to
question the quorum.
Vitan
said the legislation empowers the government to employ
various public measures that have been proven to reduce
the cost of medicines—including parallel importation,
compulsory licensing (where government overrides a
patent), the importation or manufacturing of generic
versions, and restriction
on the
scope of patentable medicines preventing pharmaceutical
companies from making minor modifications and then
repatenting them.
“Some
provisions in both versions of the House and the Senate
still need further improvements but we hope that the
legislators will uphold public-health interests in the
deliberation more than the patent and profit interests
of big multinational drug companies,” said Vitan.
In this
connection, Sen. Mar Roxas once more called on his
fellow legislators to attend the last three plenary
session days and the meetings of the Bicameral
Conference Committee to help push the approval of the
bill. “This is a very important piece of health
legislation. Providing quality and affordable medicines
to our people is a moral imperative. It should no longer
be delayed.”
Roxas,
the primary author and sponsor of the bill, also
welcomed the active engagement of stakeholder groups in
making sure the landmark legislation is passed within
the 13th Congress. These groups include
British aid agency Oxfam, the 3CP Net (Cut the Cost, Cut
the Pain Network) and Agap (Ayos na Gamot sa Abot-kayang
Presyo), Third World Network and Philippine Legislators
Committee on Population and Development, among others.
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