Monday, September 10, 2007 Gov’t agency, health group sign pact to provide cheap medicines
THE Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC) and the Philippine Healthwatch Initiatives are strengthening their partnership to provide cheap medicines to low-income Filipinos in the country.
PITC and Philippine Healthwatch Initiatives signed a memorandum of agreement last Thursday during the Drug Stores Association of the Philippines (DSAP) convention held in Cebu City. The agreement spells out the roles of the two organizations in consolidating and integrating all non-government organizations and stakeholders, such as DSAP, to support the program that will provide quality and affordable medicine.
Jorge Mendoza Judan, PITC president and chief executive officer, said the cpartnership with Healthwatch will benefit all Filipinos.
PITC, an agency under the Office of the President, oversees the operations of Botika ng Bayan and Botika ng Barangay outlets which sell medicines at half the price from those sold by commercial drugstores.
Roberto Pagdanganan, Philippine Healthwatch chairman and president, said only 20 percent of the entire population can buy medicines because of the high prices of such products when sold by big pharmacies.
“By reaching out to at least 60 percent (of) the 80 percent (of the) unprivileged (in the) population, small drug stores can grow their market,” Pagdanganan said.
He urged small drugstores to make the prices of their products competitive and increase their market share.
Under the agreement with PITC, Healthwatch is tasked to conduct a consumer education drive.
“The public should learn to trust cheap products,” he said, adding that medicines do not become less effective if sold cheap.
He said the lack of trust of consumers for drugstores selling cheap medicines is made worse by advertisements of industry giants that. (TEP)
