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| Sunday, 28 July 2002 |
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SLMA okays parallel import of drugs, but... The Sri Lanka Medical Association while backing the efforts of the Government to bring down the price of drugs, states that the import of drugs should conform to the concept of parallel imports, as advocated by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In a media statement SLMA says that the Association was not against the move to allow a government agency other than the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) to undertake parallel import of drugs as the aim of such move was to bring down the cost of drugs. Following is a press release from the SLMA: "Our attention has been drawn to a move to allow a government agency other than the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) to undertake parallel import of drugs in Sri Lanka. The objective of such importation is apparently to reduce the cost of drugs. The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) strongly endorses any attempt by the government to bring down the price of drugs. However we wish to clarify whether such import of drugs would conform to the concept of parallel imports as advocated by the World Health Organisation (WHO). "The SLMA has no objection to the implementation of parallel imports recommended by the WHO and a copy of the definition of parallel imports is given below. "If a manufacturer has patented a product in several countries, he may for a number of reasons decide to sell it at a different price in different countries. If the price in country A is substantially lower than that in country B, an importer in country B may buy the product at the cheaper price in country A, and sell it in country B at a price which is lower than the price set by the patent holder. This is called "parallel importation". The TRIPS Agreement allows for such importation of products patented in countries other than the country of origin or the country to which the drug is imported. This mechanism may be used if the price of the product is cheaper in other countries than on the local market". "This clearly states that all drugs imported should also be registered and we expect that all drugs imported to Sri Lanka would be registered under the Cosmetics Devices & Drugs Act No. 27 of 1980. "Up to now the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) has been importing drugs at affordable prices. We are aware that there have been problems of quality from time to time but these have been remedied when they arose. The Cosmetics Devices and Drugs Technical Advisory Committee (CDD-TAC) of the Ministry of Health has studied this problem and has prepared a document giving guidelines to deal with quality problems of drugs. We hope that these recommendations would be implemented. It must be stressed that what is important is cost-effectiveness, hence not only should a drug have a low unit cost but should be of satisfactory quality as well. "The SLMA recommends the following: (1) To implement parallel imports as recommended by the WHO and the Technical Advisory Committee (CDD-TAC of the Ministry of Health). (2) To designate the SPC as the sole parallel importer of drugs for the country as they have had the expertise of importing pharmaceuticals from 1971, and the committee has recommended this. "Our main concern is to ensure efficacy, safety, quality of drugs". |
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