By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter

AFFORDABLE medicine remains out of reach for much of the population despite their availability, with the main obstacle being inadequate distribution to remote areas, the Philippine Pharma Procurement, Inc. (PPPI) said.

“While there are affordable and cheaper medicines, the lack of access to these is the biggest problem,” PPPI President and Chief Executive Officer Maria Blanca Kim B. Lokin told BusinessWorld in an e-mailed statement.

“The lack of logistics and infrastructure, and the geographical makeup of the Philippines are some of the main challenges,” she added.

PPPI is a government-owned and -controlled corporation organized during the Estrada administration to reduce drug prices and engage in parallel imports. Its parent is the Philippine International Trading Corp., an arm of the Department of Trade and Industry.

She proposed that PPPI take the lead in linking procurement and distribution.

“The recommendation is that the government use PPPI as the lead agency to implement access to affordable medicines nationwide,” she added.

“It can serve as the bridge to harness government health programs for cheaper medicines and bring them to where the communities are,” she added.

She said a revival of the Botika ng Bayan program through franchising will not only accelerate access to affordable medicines but also empower micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

In response to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s eight-Point Socioeconomic Agenda, the PPPI established the Botika at Bakuna Para sa Mamamayan (BBM Pharmacy) program.

It resurrects a program originating in the 1970s whose most recent iteration was the Botika ng Bayan from the early 2000s.

The BBM Pharmacy is a joint program with the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health.

“Although there are affordable medicines in the market, access to these medicines remains limited, especially in the rural areas,” Ms. Lokin said.

“Even with the proliferation of pharmacies nationwide, the reality is that there are still a lot of underserved areas. The main reason for this is profitability,” she added.

To address this, she said that she hopes the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) can help build PPPI flagship stores and commissaries in the regions to service the soon-to-be-launched BBM Pharmacies.

“This will greatly accelerate nationwide access to affordable medicines. It can also be a tangible program that Filipinos can relate to and serve as a good complement to the Konsulta & Gamot Programs of PhilHealth,” she added.