A bitter pill to swallow

One of the problems the poor Filipinos endure is the high cost of medicines. The common citizen can no longer spare money to buy their medicines because the salary they receive is less than enough to buy their basic needs. Pharmaceutical industries are largely to be blamed because paramount to their mission is to earn rather than to relieve patients of their medical problems.

Let us look deeper into this problem of why the cost of medicines in the Philippines is high. International pharmaceutical industries claim to spend so much money end effort in funding researches to manufacture a new pill. They hire scientists to do experimentations and studies. Investment-wise, the expected profit should be realized in so short a time. And to attain this, the prices of medicines should be pegged high. While we consider the effort as scientific breakthrough, still the burden is placed on the poor Juan dela Cruz’s pockets. Aside from the researches, the pharmaceutical industries spend so much money in sponsoring seminars and conventions to inform doctors of these medicines. But these conventions turn out to be marketing strategies as the doctors are enticed to prescribe these expensive medicines by ‘wining’ and ‘dining’ or give them bribes. This again is passed to the unsuspecting Juan dela Cruz. Another point is why is the cost of this same pill, manufactured by the same pharmaceutical industry, much bigger than those in other countries like India, Bangkok, and other third world countries? Many of the reasons are the tax imposed by the government on them, the red tapes and the corruption inside government agencies. All these contribute to the exorbitant prices of medicines here in our country.

If we are to analyze the problem, one will see that many factors contribute to itL the pharmaceutical industry the government and its people. Each has its own fault. The only solution is to remind the doctors of their responsibility to prescribe what is best for their patients, and not be robots dictated by the industries. As for government, there are laws. If there are anomalies done, the full force of the law should be implemented. And for the pharmaceutical companies, their aim of providing cheaper medicines should be realized, so that there would be no “bitter pill to swallow”.