Daily Tribune – September 25, 2007

To reach wider swath of the country’s poorest with low-priced yet effective medicines, Department of Health (DoH) Secretary Francisco Duque III yesterday launched the 10,000th Botika ng Barangay (BnB) outlet at Barangay Pinagkaisahan in Cubao, Quezon City.

TThe launch of the BnB outlet is also in line with the observance of the 29th year of the generics law.

BnB, he said, is one of the products of the Half-Priced Program of the government, which aims to reduce the cost of medicines commonly bought by the poor to half of their 2001 prices.

The DoH chief said BnB was established in 2003 to ensure access to low-priced generic over-the-counter and eight prescription drugs. Among those sold at BnB outlets are antibiotics, anti-hypertensive, anti-diabetis, anti-asthma, vitamins, analgesic, pain relievers, herbal tablets and common home remedies. .

Duque assured that medicines and drugs sold in BnB outlets are of high quality since they passed the stringent quality assurance test of the Bureau of Food and Drugs.

He also said BnB outlets had been opened in communities, including even those in insurgent areas.

As of August this year, Duque said the regions with the most number of BnB outlets are Central Luzon with 1,572, Western Visayas with 1,118 and Ilocos with 728.

Metro Manila, Duque said, has 385 outlets, but more are opening soon.

He added to reach even more beneficiaries, the DoH will set up more than 23,000 BnB outlets by 2010 or an estimated one outlet for every two adjacent barangays.

To achieve this, he said, the DoH is setting up more than 3,000 BnB outlets every year beginning 2007 up to 2010.

Non-profit, BnB outlets are managed by people’s organizations and non-governmental groups.

Among the medicines being sold in BnB outlet are amoxicillin 500 mg capsules for only P2.02 per capsule as compared to the branded at P5.10; cotrimoxazole tablet/capsule at P1.69 per capsule as compared to P9.20 branded; paracetamol 500 mg tablets at P.46 per tablet as compared to P1.15, multivitamins for children at P27.11 per 60ml bottle vis-à-vis branded at P45.90, among others.

In setting up a BnB oulet, the DoH identifies the site, then enters into an agreement with the local government and scouts for supervising pharmacies.

The DoH provides a seed capital of P25,000 worth of medicines and drugs to the local government through the Philippine International Trading Corp.

Provision of low-priced yet quality medicines is one of the legacy programs of President Arroyo,” Duque said. PNA

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