DOH helpless vs food supplements

Bowing to the free market policy, health authorities admitted Thursday that they are helpless to act against the continued sale of food supplements that have no proven therapeutic effects. Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral said makers of such supplements can continue selling their products so long as they contain a disclaimer of having no approved therapeutic claims. "Ang tinitignan ng gobyerno, safety rather than efficacy. Binibigyang kalayaan ng tao mamili paano gastusin ang pera, sinisigurado lang na hindi ito makakasama sa kalusugan (Government looks more at the safety than the efficacy aspect. In this sense, people are free to spend their money so long as the products they buy are not harmful)," Cabral said in an interview on dzXL radio. The policy was made several years back when there were no regulatory agencies supervising health products, she said. At the time, Cabral said the government merely created a new category for food supplements. Waste of money? Still, she agreed with former Health Secretary Alberto Romualdez’s claim on Wednesday that such supplements may be a waste of money as they have no proven effectiveness. Cabral said the only thing government can do is to have the supplements display a disclaimer or warning from the Health Department and the Food and Drug Administration. "Ibig sabihin, walang pruweba na itong sinasabing food supplement may magagawang kabutihan para sa ating kalusugan (The warning in effect states that there is no proof the food supplement will benefit our health)," she said. Cabral said they continue to keep watch over such products, saying the department will pull them out of the market if there are major side effects. She cited the case of a herbal tea that was pulled out of the market after it was linked to some cases of liver cancer. No therapeutic effect On Wednesday, Romualdez said Filipinos could be spending millions for health products that hardly provide any therapeutic effect. He cited data from the National Health Accounts (NHA) that state Filipinos spend P150 billion a year on health products, and half the amount is for health products without proven effectiveness. He said Filipinos continue to rely on supplemental vitamins "because people are convinced that it protects them against all kinds of problems, cough, cold, cancer and others." Romualdez said pharmaceutical firms should be truthful in their advertisements as majority of Filipinos find it hard to raise money for their health needs. "It’s not just the amount of money but the way they are advertised," he said. - RSJ, GMANews.TV