MeTA Philippines
Country Overview
Public Sector
Private Sector
Civil Society
28/07/2017
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Country Overview
Roberto M. Pagdanganan
Chairman, MeTA Council – Philippines
Founding Chairman, Coalition for Health Advocacy
and Transparency (CHAT)
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Multi-stakeholder process
What were the major milestones in the multi-stakeholder process?
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Dialogue, consultation & interaction among stakeholders
as co-equals & partners
Platform to stimulate exchange of information, transparency,
accountability & governance
Participation of both multinational & national industry
associations (PHAP, PCPI)
Engagement of professional organizations (PMA, PPhA)
Organization of CSO coalition, the 1st alliance of health NGOs
Close collaboration with int’l dev’t partners (WHO, WB, EC)
Setting the stage to engage academe, media & other
public health advocates
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Major achievements and successes
What where the main achievements and successes of MeTA in
your country?
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Three (3) annual national fora tackling health issues of
current interest & developing concrete action plans
Completion of the Pharmaceutical Sector Scan and Data
Disclosure Survey, with room for validation & updating
Support for the 1st National Awards for Good Governance
in Medicines (GGM)
Research projects: 1. Health financing systems for the poor,
2. Medicines promotion & advertising, 3.Assessment of
public sector procurement, 4. Level II and III survey
Participation in the MeTA Learning Exchange Program
Launch of MeTA Discussion Series
MeTA Philippines website
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Overall challenges
What have been the main challenges during the MeTA pilot
phase?
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Some difficulty in sustaining the interest & improving the
extent of participation of various stakeholders
Strengthening adherence to the principles of transparency,
accountability, governance, information sharing
Willingness of stakeholders to disclose information
Translating research results into meaningful action
Lack of awareness about MeTA in the various publics
Hastening implementation of projects identified in the
approved Work Plan & maximizing budgetary resources
Need to regularly assess relevance of projects in the light of
current realities & developments
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Lessons Learned
What are the main lessons from MeTA in your country?
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Need for consensus-building in a multi-stakeholder
environment to address concerns & resolve issues
Importance of creating an atmosphere of trust & openness
Need for greater willingness to share knowledge,
information, resources
Stronger commitment to goals & targets when all
stakeholders are involved from planning to execution
Access to relevant & accurate data is critical to arriving at
sound & meaningful decisions
Researches/surveys/studies must be translated into
meaningful action & concrete programs
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Thank you
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Roberto M. Pagdanganan
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Email: [email protected]
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Mobile number: +639272248271
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Website: www.metaphilippines.org.ph
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Public Sector
Usec. Alexander A. Padilla & Robert Louie P. So, MD
National Center for Pharmaceutical Access and Management
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Summary Analysis at start of MeTA
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Filipinos suffer from lack of Access
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Sustainable Financing
Availability
Budget
Limited entitlements
Transparency/ Accountability
Pricing
Human resource Issues
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No outcome indicators for Access to Medicines
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Information / Addressing Asymmetry
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Expand understanding of the Philippine Pharmaceutical
Situation
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Engagement with stakeholders for collective strategic efforts
to improve sector
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Major milestones
DOH in terms of Public- Private
Partnerships
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Advisory Council for Price
Regulation
DOH- Valsartan Access Program
Insulin Access Program with Eli
Lilly and Sanofi- Aventis
Childhood Cancer Medicine
Access Program
Pharmacist Services for Botika ng
Barangays
Good Governance for Medicines
with WHO
Jump Start Medicines
Transparency and Alliance
Philippines
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Successes
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Institutional Successes
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RA 9502 “Universally Accessible and
Cheaper Medicines Act of 2008”
Generics promotion
Botika ng Barangay
P100 Launching
Price Regulation: Maximum drug Retail
Price & Government Mediated Access
Program (MDRP & G-MAP)
Good Governance for Medicines
 Electronic- Essential Drug Price
Monitoring System (E-EDPMS)
 Philippine National Drug Formulary
System (PNDFS)
DOH support to MeTA
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Financial support in early stages
Resource for pharmaceutical scan
Office lodged in DOH compound
Engagements for memberships at the start
of MeTA
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Challenges
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Revitalizing the National Medicines Policy in the Philippines in line with significant legislation
and inputs from stakeholders
Strengthening government agencies involved in medicines access: FDA and DOH- NCPAM
Improving the general public’s confidence in the use of generic medicines
Strengthening community pharmacies through expanding drug list, disseminating best practices
and acquiring pharmacist services
Assessing impact of drug price reduction initiatives
Technical resources are limited
Fiscal resources needs to be improved
Standard guidelines needs to be further developed
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MeTA Assistance to Public Sector
 Engaging local groups to expand MeTA process.
 Rolling out public sector initiatives and raising awareness through MeTA
 Role of MeTA as conscience at the grassroots level
 MeTA support for consolidating resources in assesing impact/ surveys and technical
assistance for capacity building in selling multistakeholder process
 Collective support for rolling out good governance initiatives
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Other Challenges
 MeTA institutionalization and sustainability.
 Resolving MeTA personality.
 Expanding MeTA acceptance by all sectors
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Lessons Learned
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We were able to share with MeTA the
effective mechanisms to engage the
different stakeholders in the Philippine
pharmaceutical sector in
conceptualizing, creation,
implementation and evaluation of
State initiatives for improving access
to medicines are needed.
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Advisory Council for Price regulation
Public-Private Partnership
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Transparency in pharmaceutical data
leads to better and more effective
policy making and evaluation
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MeTA Philippines is effective as a
venue for validation (check and
Balance): Act as Social Conscience to
guide policies and effective strategies
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Thank you
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Alexander A. Padilla
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Undersecretary in Charge of the National Center for
Pharmaceutical Access and Management
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Robert Louie P. So, MD
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Project Director of the National Center for Pharmaceutical Access
and Management
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[email protected]
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Mobile number: +63 917 835 2312
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Private Sector
Reiner W. Gloor
PHAP President
Normita D. Leyesa
PPhA President
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Summary Analysis at start of MeTA
What were the needs and issues in your specific sector at the start
of MeTA?
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Transparency in government
Bidding / procurement (National Level / Local Government
Units)
Representation of stakeholders in the legislature
Regulatory (Food and Drugs Administration)
 Safety and quality of medicines
 cGMP compliance
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Major milestones
What milestones have been achieved during the MeTA pilot phase?
– Partnership
with government and
nongovernmental groups, civil society
organizations
– National fora – issues on ethical practices,
drug promotions, quality of drugs discussed
– GGM Awards
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Successes
What were the successes for your sector during the MeTA pilot
phase?
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Increase in acceptance of generic drugs by the public
Joint advocacies heard by other stakeholders
Review of promotional/marketing activities and
advertisement of medicines
Review of Code of Ethics of Professional and Private
Industry Organizations
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Challenges
What challenges has your sector endured during the MeTA pilot
phase?
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Expanding MeTA awareness to the public
Overcome initial misconceptions that MeTA was only
concerned with medicine pricing
Improving access of essential/life-saving drugs to the
public
Implementation of ethical promotions and advertisement
of drugs
Adoption and adherence to professional health care
practices
Strict observance of rational drug use
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Lessons Learned
What are the lessons that your sector has learned from MeTA?
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To identify stakeholders like the PMA and encourage their
earlier participation in the process
Continuous dialogue encourages trust and mutual respect
among stakeholders
Importance of engaging stakeholders in an open
interaction
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Private Sector Composition
PHAP
(48 members)
PPhA
(8000 members)
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PCPI
(123 members)
PMA
( 63,000+ members)
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Thank you
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Normita D. Leyesa
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President, Philippine Pharmacists Association
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Email: [email protected]
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Website: www.metaphilippines.org.ph
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Civil Society
Cecilia C. Sison
Coordinator, Coalition for Health Advocacy and Transparency
Secretary, MeTA Council - Philippines
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Summary Analysis at start of MeTA
What were the needs and issues in your specific sector at the start
of MeTA?
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Loose network of CSOs with an overriding agenda, despite
differences in programs, priorities & mode of engagement
Common advocacy to improve access to low-priced
medicines and better health services for the poor
Range of specific concerns: patients’ rights, high medicine
prices, parallel importation, restrictions in current IPR Code
Generally, adversarial stance towards MNCs
Disappointment over inefficiencies and inconsistent efforts
of government to champion patients’ rights
Efforts focused on ensuring passage of the Cheaper
Medicines Law, after it was bypassed in previous Congress
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Major milestones
What milestones have been achieved during the MeTA pilot phase?
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28/07/2017
Organization of the Coalition for Health Advocacy and
Transparency (CHAT); membership expansion
Representation of the CSO sector in the MeTA Council
Participation in government-initiated advisory and oversight
committees for Cheaper Medicines Act
CHAT Discussion Series, CHAT Official Statements,
individual CSO research & advocacy projects, skills training
Engagement in multi-stakeholder programs, discussion
groups and advocacy activities
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Successes
What were the successes for your sector during the MeTA pilot
phase?
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Engagement as a co-equal stakeholder
Recognition as the health coalition in the CSO community,
and the voice of patients and consumers
Deeper appreciation of a range of concerns: quality, health
financing, marketing and promotion, regulation, price control
Broader appreciation of the perspectives of other
stakeholders
Access to resources / funding to implement programs
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Challenges
What challenges has your sector endured during the MeTA pilot
phase?
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Sustaining interest of members to participate in activities
Low budget utilization and delayed implementation of
projects in current Work Plan
Need to increase public awareness of CHAT advocacies
and programs
Expansion of membership base to the regions
Implementation of individual CSO projects
Need for direct and quick access to funds for projects and
operations
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Lessons Learned
What are the lessons that your sector has learned from MeTA?
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Maximizing varied roles of civil society : watchdog,
disseminate information by maximizing reach, feedback
from the grassroots, support govt & industry initiatives
Importance of trust, transparency and openness when
interacting with other stakeholders and groups
Synergy can result when groups of varying perspectives
work together on a common advocacy
Continuous dialogue helps stakeholders better appreciate
positions and motivations of other groups
Exchange of information with similarly situated groups must
be encouraged
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Thank you
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Cecilia C. Sison
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CSO Coordinator
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Email: [email protected]
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Mobile number: +639175295718
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Website: www.metaphilippines.org.ph
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