Medicines imported by RP gov't are not fake
Medicines imported by RP gov't are not fake
Posted 11:31pm (Mla time) Jan 23, 2005
By Neal Cruz
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the January 24, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
MULTINATIONAL pharmaceutical companies are currently on a propaganda drive to scare Filipino consumers into buying only their own branded medicines. This is a reaction to the efforts of the Philippine government, through the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), to provide Filipinos with cheaper medicines from other countries, notably India. The propaganda line of the multinationals is that the PITC imports are fake. False.
In legal parlance, drugs coming from other countries but of the same brand as those manufactured here, are called "counterfeit." They are made of the same ingredients and the same formulation as those made here. They are even manufactured by sister companies (in India and Europe) of the multinationals here. Technically, they are made by the same company, but by its different branches. Yet they are called "counterfeit" when they are imported by countries where they are not manufactured. They are the same medicines, genuine products, only they are made in another country. They are legally termed "counterfeit."
But they are not "fake" in the sense that they are made of different materials as the real ones or are harmful to health. Unfortunately, in the Philippines, "counterfeit" is often mistaken for "fake," as in "spurious" or "fraudulent." But that is what the multinationals are trying to plant in the minds of Filipino consumers: that all imported medicines, even those made by their sister companies, are "fake."
No, they are not. They are the same medicines as those made by the multinationals here. The only difference is that they are very much cheaper than those manufactured here.
The multinationals are not making clear the difference between "counterfeit" and "fake" for obvious reasons. The strange thing is why the PITC is not explaining the difference to protect its own imports.
Even Sen. Pia Cayetano has been taken in by this false propaganda. At a hearing of the Senate committee on health, it was obvious that she also confuses "counterfeit" drugs with "fake" drugs, as did the other committee members. Cayetano said the Department of Health, Bureau of Customs, PITC and the Drug Stores Association of the Philippines (DSAP) should "disseminate information necessary to combat the illegal trade."
One necessary information to enlighten the public is precisely to differentiate between "counterfeit" and "fake drugs." And in the second place, the drugs being imported by the PITC are not "illegal." The PITC was tasked precisely to import medicines because those manufactured here by the multinationals are so expensive they are beyond the reach of the poor. Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan, chief of the PITC, was at the hearing, but he did not take the opportunity to explain that the medicines his agency are importing are not "fake." Neither did the representatives of the DOH, who should know better.
Why have the multinationals embarked on this false propaganda? Because they are afraid of the competition they may face from the cheap drugs the PITC is importing from India, Pakistan and Europe. The multinationals have nothing to be afraid of because they control 80 percent of the Philippine drug market. Filipino pharmaceutical companies, of which Unilab is the biggest, have the remaining 20 percent.
The multinationals compose an oligopoly. Only one company manufactures the different medicines of the different drug companies. And they are marketed by one big drugstore chain, Mercury Drug, that has hundreds of branches all over the country. Many of the small family owned boticas and farmacias have been killed off by this chain.
And that is why the multinational drug companies can dictate their high prices. They have no real competition, like the Big 3 oil companies.
And that is why then Trade Secretary Mar Roxas thought of importing medicines from India, where they are priced a fraction of what they command here. The present PITC is continuing the importations and distributing them through government hospitals and clinics and health centers. These are not enough, however, so the PITC is distributing the cheaper drugs through the small boticas and sari-sari stores to make them accessible to as many people as possible. And that is why Cayetano told the committee hearing that most of the fake drugs "are sold in sari-sari stores and small drugstores," and urged the public to "buy only from reputable drugstores (meaning Mercury) and pharmaceutical companies" (meaning the multinationals). The target of the propaganda is obviously the cheap imports of the government.
Of course, there are really fake drugs manufactured here by illegal, small backyard companies but the multinationals are not afraid of them. What they are really afraid of are the legitimate government imports. And there may really be some medicines smuggled here. But that is because local prices are so high that it makes smuggling profitable.
Let me repeat: the medicines being imported by the PITC from India and Europe are much cheaper but they are not fake. The Philippine government will not import fake medicines.
Why can India make the same medicines much cheaper? Because it does not have to pay for the patent rights by using a different process but using the same ingredients. We should change our patent laws so we can do the same thing and remove our people from the greedy clutches of the multinationals.
* * *
REMINDER: This evening, at 6:30, is the inauguration of the Front Page piano bar and Plaridel's clubhouse and art gallery on T.M. Kalaw Street, near the Rizal Park in Manila. Journalists and their friends are invited.
Posted 11:31pm (Mla time) Jan 23, 2005
By Neal Cruz
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the January 24, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
MULTINATIONAL pharmaceutical companies are currently on a propaganda drive to scare Filipino consumers into buying only their own branded medicines. This is a reaction to the efforts of the Philippine government, through the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), to provide Filipinos with cheaper medicines from other countries, notably India. The propaganda line of the multinationals is that the PITC imports are fake. False.
In legal parlance, drugs coming from other countries but of the same brand as those manufactured here, are called "counterfeit." They are made of the same ingredients and the same formulation as those made here. They are even manufactured by sister companies (in India and Europe) of the multinationals here. Technically, they are made by the same company, but by its different branches. Yet they are called "counterfeit" when they are imported by countries where they are not manufactured. They are the same medicines, genuine products, only they are made in another country. They are legally termed "counterfeit."
But they are not "fake" in the sense that they are made of different materials as the real ones or are harmful to health. Unfortunately, in the Philippines, "counterfeit" is often mistaken for "fake," as in "spurious" or "fraudulent." But that is what the multinationals are trying to plant in the minds of Filipino consumers: that all imported medicines, even those made by their sister companies, are "fake."
No, they are not. They are the same medicines as those made by the multinationals here. The only difference is that they are very much cheaper than those manufactured here.
The multinationals are not making clear the difference between "counterfeit" and "fake" for obvious reasons. The strange thing is why the PITC is not explaining the difference to protect its own imports.
Even Sen. Pia Cayetano has been taken in by this false propaganda. At a hearing of the Senate committee on health, it was obvious that she also confuses "counterfeit" drugs with "fake" drugs, as did the other committee members. Cayetano said the Department of Health, Bureau of Customs, PITC and the Drug Stores Association of the Philippines (DSAP) should "disseminate information necessary to combat the illegal trade."
One necessary information to enlighten the public is precisely to differentiate between "counterfeit" and "fake drugs." And in the second place, the drugs being imported by the PITC are not "illegal." The PITC was tasked precisely to import medicines because those manufactured here by the multinationals are so expensive they are beyond the reach of the poor. Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan, chief of the PITC, was at the hearing, but he did not take the opportunity to explain that the medicines his agency are importing are not "fake." Neither did the representatives of the DOH, who should know better.
Why have the multinationals embarked on this false propaganda? Because they are afraid of the competition they may face from the cheap drugs the PITC is importing from India, Pakistan and Europe. The multinationals have nothing to be afraid of because they control 80 percent of the Philippine drug market. Filipino pharmaceutical companies, of which Unilab is the biggest, have the remaining 20 percent.
The multinationals compose an oligopoly. Only one company manufactures the different medicines of the different drug companies. And they are marketed by one big drugstore chain, Mercury Drug, that has hundreds of branches all over the country. Many of the small family owned boticas and farmacias have been killed off by this chain.
And that is why the multinational drug companies can dictate their high prices. They have no real competition, like the Big 3 oil companies.
And that is why then Trade Secretary Mar Roxas thought of importing medicines from India, where they are priced a fraction of what they command here. The present PITC is continuing the importations and distributing them through government hospitals and clinics and health centers. These are not enough, however, so the PITC is distributing the cheaper drugs through the small boticas and sari-sari stores to make them accessible to as many people as possible. And that is why Cayetano told the committee hearing that most of the fake drugs "are sold in sari-sari stores and small drugstores," and urged the public to "buy only from reputable drugstores (meaning Mercury) and pharmaceutical companies" (meaning the multinationals). The target of the propaganda is obviously the cheap imports of the government.
Of course, there are really fake drugs manufactured here by illegal, small backyard companies but the multinationals are not afraid of them. What they are really afraid of are the legitimate government imports. And there may really be some medicines smuggled here. But that is because local prices are so high that it makes smuggling profitable.
Let me repeat: the medicines being imported by the PITC from India and Europe are much cheaper but they are not fake. The Philippine government will not import fake medicines.
Why can India make the same medicines much cheaper? Because it does not have to pay for the patent rights by using a different process but using the same ingredients. We should change our patent laws so we can do the same thing and remove our people from the greedy clutches of the multinationals.
* * *
REMINDER: This evening, at 6:30, is the inauguration of the Front Page piano bar and Plaridel's clubhouse and art gallery on T.M. Kalaw Street, near the Rizal Park in Manila. Journalists and their friends are invited.
posted by Dante at 10:16 PM
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