80 to 90% of RP drug stores complied with price cuts - DOH

Almost all drug stores nationwide have complied with a government directive to slash by half the prices of five essential medicines starting Saturday, August 15. The compliance rate was between 80 and 90 percent, according to Dr. Robert Louie So, the Department of Health's pharmaceutical management unit program manager. "We have no complete (report) as of the moment, but it's safe to place the rate at about 80 to 90 percent. So far, fewer violations have been reported compared to compliance," So told GMANews.TV in a phone interview on Saturday. He said the compliance of two of the country's biggest drug store chains - Mercury Drug Store and Watson's Drug Store - pulled up the figures. "These two drug store chains already have about a thousand outlets nationwide. Since they complied, we can say mataas talaga ang compliance rate (compliance rate is indeed high)," So said.

Five in every six drug store outlets in the Visayas have complied with the price cuts, according to So, citing reports from DOH offices in the region. In Mindanao, all 90 drug store outlets that were inspected by DOH officials there complied with the directive, So said. He said the DOH would make sure that the high level of compliance would be maintained through continuous monitoring of drug prices. "We are very glad that many of the big drug stores complied. We want to maintain a high level of compliance. This effort should not be limited to today or the next few months," he said. Executive Order 821 was signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last month to half the prices of anti-hypertensive Amlodipine, anti-cholesterol Atorvastatin; anti-infection Azithromycin, and anti-cancer drugs Cytarabine and Doxorubicin. The prices of 16 other drugs were likewise slashed by 10 to 50 percent after drug makers volunteered to cap the prices of their products. - GMANews.TV