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Senate
Bill 101, amending the Intellectual Property (IP) Code
(Republic Act 8293) to allow more competition in the
pharmaceutical industry, will sail ahead in the
legislative mill leaving behind “price controls” and
other proposed measures to address the health-care needs
of Filipinos.
Wisely,
the joint Senate Committees on Trade and Commerce, and
Health and Demographics decided that the bill by Sen.
Mar Roxas, having been exhaustively discussed in the
last Congress, should proceed independently of the other
proposals. Unanimously passed by the 13th Senate, the
Roxas bill will reform the country’s patent system to
help lower the costs of medicines.
While
proponents of patent reform expect smooth sailing of the
Roxas bill in the Senate, it is still a waiting game in
the House of Representatives where the Committee on
Trade and Industry is calling the shots.
In a
recent public hearing, however, several interested
parties expressed their sentiment that the amendments to
the Intellectual Property Code (IP Code) should be
tackled separately from the other legislative proposals
concerning health care. Among these groups are the
Department of Health, the Drugstore Association of the
Philippines,
the Philippine Chamber of Pharmaceuticals Inc. and
nongovernment organizations.
But, the
only group so far opposing an independent legislative
track for the IP Code amendments is the Pharmaceutical
and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP)
whose members are mostly the multinational drug
companies. This is the same group whose lawyers were
kicked out of the halls of the House of Representatives
by Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. during its special session in
February for intruding in the affairs of the House.
As in
the last Congress, PHAP’s strategy seems to be the same:
to kill the bill for patent reform that would help make
medicines more affordable. This time by insisting on an
omnibus bill that contains all proposals from amendments
of IP Code to price-control measures.
Not that
the other proposals are unimportant; they are. The
Bureau of Food and Drugs has to be strengthened to
regulate the pharmaceutical industry and market, state
interventions in the distribution chain of medicines may
be needed, reforming the health insurance system is
necessary, and other proposals deserve equal attention.
But to
insist on an omnibus bill to tackle all these proposals
smacks of a tactical maneuver to achieve the same end.
Deliberations on the more controversial proposals, such
as price controls, will cause the inevitable delay of
the bill’s passage leading to, PHAP hopes, the slow
death of the bill.
The mood
in Congress, however, is different now. Pressure to pass
legislation to make health care and medicines affordable
and accessible to Filipinos is real, and many political
leaders from the President to congressmen are responding
to this urgent need.
Instead
of wishing it a slow death, PHAP should consider
supporting patent reforms that are in place in many
other countries and that comply with international
agreements, especially that of Trade Related
Intellectual Property Rights. If they do, they might be
surprised to find that they have allies in the other
proposals in Congress.
****
The Pan-Asian Conference on “Learning Difficulties: A
Closer Look at the Asian Child” will be held from
October 25 to 27, 2007 at the Crowne Plaza, Ortigas
Center.
For more information and inquiries on how you can
participate, help or sponsor a teacher, call Wordlab at
(632)724-3871 or 416-9285 (look for Che Diez) or send an
e-mail to
panasian.LDsecretariat@gmail.com.
The author is the director general of the Intellectual
Property Office of the Philippines. Comments may be sent
to e-mail address: dg_asc@ipophil.gov.ph. |
