THE Marcos administration has been able to improve health care access, but procurement and distribution systems need to be built to ensure that patients get quality and life-saving health care. During The Manila Times’ Health and Pharmaceutical Forum held on Friday in Makati City, Philippine Pharma Procurement Inc. (PPPI) President Kim Bernardo-Lokin said the Philippines must bring down out-of-pocket costs for health care spending to ensure a more “equitable and affordable care for everyone.” “At PPPI, we are able to help in adopting these improved approaches for our country. As proof, we have expanded health care infrastructure through the current administration’s investments. We now have a growing institutional capacity through government programs and the specialty center network. What we need is policy innovation that connects these elements more effectively,” Lokin said. Lokin called on the health care sector to collaborate with the PPPI to identify gaps in health care innovation. “The PPPI possesses the expertise, relationships and institutional mandate needed to bridge gaps between the global pharmaceutical innovation and local patient needs,” she said. “We have the opportunity to create a health care system where life-saving treatments would reach our hospitals, where families don’t face impossible choices before recuperation and basic needs, when our country’s health care system has the therapeutic tools they need to practice modern medicine effectively,” Lokin said. Diana Edralin, president of the Pharmaceutical and Health care Association of the Philippines (PHAP) and general manager of Roche Philippines, said the private sector has always taken the “extra mile” to support the advancement of accessible health care and be at par with global quality standards. “PHAP and its member companies work closely with the Department of Health (DOH) and Philippine FDA (Food and Drug Administration), number one, to speed up the regulatory approval process specifically for the vaccines and the treatment. We also ensure the timely vaccine and medicine availability, and definitely, we also partner with DOH and PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corp.) to provide timely health information,” Edralin said. She called for expanding the Philippine National Formulary which would lead to cheaper medicines for Filipinos. The formulary is the list of medicines from which the government can choose the specific medicines that will be given for free, especially in public hospitals. Edralin said one of the major barriers in streamlining the supply chain is the delays in the Health Technology Assessment process, which sometimes takes years. “Because of these delays, many innovative treatments, especially for cancer and other serious diseases, are not included in the PNF. The result: These medicines are not accessible in the public hospitals and facilities, and patients are forced to pay out of pocket, often at great financial risk.” She suggested that an expedited review mechanism or reliance pathway be developed, which would allow the Philippine HTA to leverage trusted international regulators such as the United States FDA or the European Medicines Agency. Also a participant in the forum, FDA Philippines spokesman Khay-Ann Magundayao-Borlado said the agency is working on making sure medicines that have been approved in other countries will be approved in the Philippines. Borlado added that the ongoing digitization will help the FDA manage the registration and approval of these medicines and vaccines.