New law sparks fears over drug price hikes

New law allows govt hospitals & clinics to make their own deals. Threat to GPO which supplies low cost drugs to Thailand's universal healthcare program.

HEALTHCARE & PHARMACEUTICALS

New law threat to GPO & low drug prices

19/05/2017

Penchan Charoensuthipan

Pharmacists and health advocates have voiced opposition to a law that will cancel a regulation requiring state agencies to buy medical supplies from the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO).

GPO ESSENTIAL FOR LOW-PRICED PRICE DRUGS

The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) produces and sells medicine at affordable rates and helps stabilise drug prices in the market.

Without the GPO, it is believed the retail prices of drugs manufactured by private firms could spiral upwards and the cost of medicine in general would be more expensive.

Many doctors and pharmacists and they believe the new law would drive the GPO out of business and threaten the country's medical security.

This is according to Siriporn Chiprasitthisiri from the Association of Rural Pharmacists.

NEW LAW THREATENS GPO SUPPLY OF CHEAP DRUGS

The dissenting voices came at a seminar in Bangkok to discuss the government's plan to enforce from Aug 23 the freshly- enacted Public Procurement Act, which will cancel the current 1992 PM's Office regulation on procurement.

The regulation requires state agencies to buy generic medicine and medical equipment from the GPO state enterprise, provided the prices of the supplies to be purchased do not exceed 3% of the market prices.

The GPO also sells the medicine to hospitals serving members of Thailand's universal healthcare program that makes sure that everyone in the country has access to affordable healthcare, as well as the Social Security Fund (SSF) and those using public health facilities.

Together they constitute the country's largest providers of health care and medical treatment.

GPO VS. GLOBAL BIG PHARMA

The GPO produces inexpensive versions of expensive drugs produced by big global pharmaceutical companies (big pharma).

These cheap GPO varieties save the lifes of people suffering from diseases such as cardiovascular disease, HIV-AIDS and cancer.

The GPO produces these under provisions of the WTO TRIPS agreement on intellectual property that guarantee access to essential medicines (see  here).

This has put the GPO in constant contention with big powerful western pharmaceutical companies which exert their power to put an end to TRIPS and the low cost medicine which they contend violates their property rights (for example, see past article here).

POOR PEOPLE NEED GPO FOR INEXPENSIVE DRUGS

Drug market researcher Kannika Kittiwetchakun said the new law has a get-out clause in Section 65 that allows a ministerial regulation to be drafted to let the 1992 regulation to remain in force.

People need the GPO to supply inexpensive drugs, Ms Kannika said.

GPO HELPS SAVE 5 BILLION BAHT AVOIDING HIGH-PRICED DRUGS

The GPO earns only about 500 million baht in revenue each year.

The GPO, however, helps the government save up to five billion baht annually which would otherwise be spent acquiring high-priced drugs, she said.

The seminar was told that too many lives depend on various drugs produced by the GPO and the new law, once implemented, would have far-reaching adverse impacts on the quality of public health.

"If the GPO cannot continue in business, drug prices will certainly go up," said Nimitr Tian-udom, director of the Aids Access Foundation.

He said patients have the right to quality medical treatment.

WITHOUT GPO, MANY WOULD DIE

To make this more concrete and easy to understand, there is likely to at least one or two people in any neighbourhood who would be dead if it were not for GPO.

In other words, GPO saves lives.

In the author of this article's case, a husband-wife neighbour in rural Chiang Rai have lived with HIV for decades and may, in fact, have a normal lifespan, as recent research shows.

If the GPO did not exist, then this couple would be dead, along with many couples like them across Thailand.

Many cancer and cardiovascular disease survivors would also, no doubt, be dead.

Since Thailand has an ageing society and disease and medical conditions tend to increase with age with income decreasing, GPO's affordable drugs are even more important now than ever.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1252058/new-law-sparks-fears-over-drug-price-hikes

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