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THE
House of Representatives is now considering its version
of the cheaper-medicines bill that aims to provide the
Filipino people access to affordable medicines.
The
Senate didn’t waste time passing its own version of the
bill as soon as the 14th Congress opened in the middle
of the year.
The
health situation in the country has reached crisis
proportions, partly because of the acutely high prices
of medicines. Because of this, the slogan bawal
magkasakit by a pharmaceutical company for its
vitamin product has been adopted by every Filipino. The
prohibitive prices of medicines have really made people
afraid of getting sick because they have no other
recourse, when they fall seriously ill, but sing, as the
joke goes, “Mona Lisa.” (To the uninitiated, a line in
the song goes “They just lie there, and they die there.
. . ”)
One,
therefore, cannot but agree with Rep. Teddyboy Locsin
Jr. when he said that it was high time the poor also
experienced “orgasmic heights” because, so far, it is
“only the pharmaceutical companies and their lackeys who
have been climaxing continuously.”
The
no-nonsense congressman from the first district of
Makati City made the statement in reply to the Turno en
Contra speech of his colleague in the House who said
earlier that the House bill has raised the expectations
of the people to “orgasmic heights.”
The
latter congressman was protesting Locsin’s efforts to
fast-track the bill; he wanted it referred back to the
committee that drafted it so that a “simpler, more
understandable, easily implementable and more effective
cheaper-medicines bill” could be crafted.
But
experience has shown that referring a bill back to the
committee that drafted it is like putting it to a long
sleep. Which means it would take ages before the people
could enjoy less costly medicines.
We’d
like to tell the protesting congressman that the people
do not need a “simpler, more understandable, easily
implementable and more effective cheaper-medicines
bill.” What the people want is a law that would provide
them cheaper medicines NOW. Period.
But
perhaps it’s fair to give the protesting congressman
credit when he said that the people have now reached
“orgasmic heights” with the prospect of being able to
buy affordable medicines.
We wish
to recall here the experience of one of our editors who
virtually reached an orgasmic high after buying
medicines for her parents—a stroke survivor and an early
Alzheimer’s patient—in Hyderabad, a major center for
pharmaceutical companies in India.
An
antihypertension medicine priced at P50 per tablet here
costs only P3.35 each in
India.
The drug for Alzheimer’s, which sells at P200 per pop
here, is only P10.80 per there. The anti-asthma inhaler
that costs more than P500 here is only P90 in India.
She
couldn’t believe there are such low-priced medicines in
this world. And that it’s possible for Filipinos to have
them, too, if only their government had the political
will.
She
couldn’t believe that the P20,000 monthly budget for her
parents’ medicine could be reduced significantly, if the
drugs were bought elsewhere.
Also,
just imagine the smile on the face of a man and his wife
after he—who has been having erectile dysfunction
problems because of diabetes—was gifted with a “vitamin”
from
India
that costs only a few pesos, compared with the very
expensive popular brand sold here.
Every
Filipino household now has at least one senior citizen
who may be popping maintenance pills at least once a day
for hypertension, diabetes or other illnesses. The
additional expense for such medications alone is a heavy
burden on the strained family resources—the value of
which depreciates every day as the prices of
commodities—especially medicines!—rise continuously.
And, as the pharmaceutical company’s slogan says, people
these days are afraid of getting ill because additional
illness in the family is a huge burden, indeed.
To the
members of the House, the people await with bated breath
your action on the cheaper-medicines bill. As servants
of the people, you are expected to serve their interests
and nothing else. Surely, it’s possible to make life a
bit easier for them, if not give them “orgasmic highs.”
As another song goes, “it’s so important to make someone
happy.” And it takes so little, we might add, compared
with the whispered-about multimillion-peso lobby of
giant firms. Oh, well. |
