ROXAS TO GOVERNMENT: USE POWER UNDER CHEAP MEDS LAW

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today said government should import quality but low-priced anti-flu capsules from countries that manufacture affordable drugs and save much-need resources for other equally important government programs.

"Mahalagang maging handa ang ating gobyerno sa pagpasok ng swine flu sa ating bansa. Kailangang magtulungan tayong lahat," said Roxas, author of the Quality and Affordable Medicines law, which gives government the power to engage in parallel importation of medicines from cheap drugs-manufacturing countries.

"Hindi natin kailangang gumastos ng napakalaking halaga para paghandaan ito. Pwede naman tayong humanap ng mga gamot galing sa India o sa iba pang bansa kung saan maraming kumpanya ng gamot ang nagbebenta sa murang halaga," he added.

The government has set aside P90 million to finance the country's program to guard against the swine flu pandemic, including the importation of an additional 400,000 capsules of Oseltamivir, which would cost the government P34 million.

The additional capsules would beef up the Department of Health's stockpile of 600,000, of which 54% is said to have already expired in November 2007; 21% will expire in July this year; 2% in August and 6% in November. The remaining 17% will expire in February 2011. A million capsules would treat 100,000 patients.

In preparing for a possible outbreak, the Philippines has adopted the World Health Organization's conservative formula that assumes 2 percent of the population, or about 1.9 million Filipinos, might become infected with the swine flu virus.

"Maaaring umangkat ng mga murang gamot ang pamahalaan sa pamamagitan ng parallel importation. Huwag sanang sayangin ng DoH ang mga karapatang ibinigay ng batas dito nang sa gayon ay mas maraming Filipino ang makinabang sa serbisyo ng pamahalaan," the Visayan senator said.

Roxas has sought a Senate inquiry into government's preparedness to deal with a possible swine flu pandemic.