During the 2-days Medicines Transparency Alliance-Philippines' MeTA National Forum 2015 last February 17-18 held at Bayleaf Hotel in Manila, I noticed a significant change in NGOs involvement in public health discourse: a shift in active involvement from what I would call as "ideology-based" NGOs to "patients-based" NGOs. What is the difference between the two?
For me, the ideology-based NGOs tend to be more vocal against multinational and innovator pharma companies, against strong intellectual property rights (IPR) like patents of newly-invented medicines and vaccines, against price differentiation and advocate drug price control and mandatory price discounts. There is also implicit hatred of capitalism and support for health nationalization if not socialism.
The patients-based NGOs on the other hand are less vocal about those ideology-based concerns and are more concerned with helping patients of specific diseases have access with (a) financial assistance, (b) access to affordable medicines, and (c) support groups from fellow patient groups, other NGOs, academe, industry players and government.
After all, patients and their families do not care or segregate much whether the ones who can give them effective medicines or treatment are multinationals or local firms, innovators or generics, patented or off-patent drugs. An expensive but effective medicine would actually come as more useful and cheaper than cheap but ineffective (even substandard) medicine. The former would treat or kill a disease and improve the condition of the patient, the latter would allow an original disease to evolve and expand to something more dangerous, more lethal diseases. Of course the best scenario is cheap and effective medicines and vaccines.
So during the MeTA forum last February, I saw leaders of support groups for patients of diabetes, hepatitis, cancer, psoriasis, eyesight problems, cerebral palsy, etc. Cool. And while I have met some of them before, many others I have met there for the first time. This is a good and new development in public healthcare discussions.
Until recently, the state through the DOH and its support agencies like PhilHealth and FDA, was pressured by ideology-based advocacies like drug price control, 50 percent mandatory price cut of the most popular products of some multinational pharma. With the entry of patients-based NGOs, such politics of envy policies can be avoided or minimized.
PAPO has 12 member organizations: Akap Pinoy , Balikatang Thalassemia , Foundation for Sight, Haplos,
Kythe Foundation, New Vois Association, Philippine Cerebral Palsy Inc. (PCPI), Phil. Society of Orphan Disorders (PSOD), Psoriasis Society of the Phils, Yellow
Warriors, plus two others.
Last Friday, Karen launched her new PR firm, Health PRx. As the name implies, it is a PR firm for healthcare-related campaigns and advocacies. Invited guests were Karen's family, friends, PR practitioners, former officemates at MSD, other players in the pharma sector, foreign and local. I was there, along with Jess Lorenzo, Girlie's husband and is part of the company as its officer or director for good governance. Girlie was there too, we were seatmates in the table.
I asked Karen two questions about her company, who are their target clients, and in what sense that it is a patients-oriented PR firm?
See also:
CSOs and State 18: Civil Society as Lobbyists for More Government? Cigarette Warning Bill, March 02, 2014
I asked Karen two questions about her company, who are their target clients, and in what sense that it is a patients-oriented PR firm?
Karen replied,
“My target clients are persons or institutions who have a
health advocacy and want to mainstream and popularize their cause. I also have
to personally believe in their cause for me to take on the work. I would like to think that at the end of the day,
everything we want to do for health should have the patients in mind. And so my work in PAPO is an excellent way
for me to ground my company and keep me focused on what is important. It will be a constant and daily reminder to
always put the patients perspective first.”
Cool views and mission, Karen. I wish PAPO and Health PRx a successful endeavor in the future.
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See also:
CSOs and State 18: Civil Society as Lobbyists for More Government? Cigarette Warning Bill, March 02, 2014
CSOs and State 19: UP Maroons and UP Alumni, March 24, 2014
CSOs and State 20, Gawad Kalinga and Housing for the Poor, June 08, 2015
CSOs and State 20, Gawad Kalinga and Housing for the Poor, June 08, 2015
UHC 26: Public and Private Spending on Health, January 31, 2015
BWorld 3, UHC via Health Voucher System, May 23, 2015
BWorld 3, UHC via Health Voucher System, May 23, 2015
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