Scope and Coverage
- Guidelines apply to consumers, hospitals, drug outlets (public and private), healthcare facilities, and government entities
- Focuses on ethical pricing of medicines during national calamities and emergencies
Objectives
- Provide general guidelines for implementation of RA 7581 regarding price stabilization of essential and non-essential medicines
- Ensure public availability of prices during emergencies to assist consumers and government procurement
- Ensure affordability of essential medicines for government and public health agencies providing aid in calamity-affected areas
Definition of Terms
- Basic Necessities: Includes food staples and essential drugs as classified by DOH
- Disaster: Emergency causing serious disruption and losses beyond local capacity to cope
- Drug Price Reference Index (DPRI): DOH-set ceiling prices for government procurement based on prevailing government tender prices
- Emergency: Any event threatening public safety requiring immediate response
- Prevailing Price: Average price of basic necessities sold within one month of emergency
- Price Ceiling: Maximum legal selling price for basic necessities or prime commodities
- Price Coordinating Council: Government body headed by DTI tasked to implement price controls
- Prime Commodities: Other commonly used food, household, agricultural, construction items, and non-essential drugs
- Price Freeze: No increase allowed on prices fixed at prevailing level
Implementing Guidelines
- Price freeze or DOH-set maximum ceiling price for essential medicines applies nationwide or in affected areas upon presidential declaration of calamity
- All drug retail outlets must submit prevailing market prices to DOH for consolidation and evaluation
- DOH to establish and continuously update maximum price ceilings as necessary
- Development of monitoring tools by DOH to support price stabilization enforcement
- Coordinated price monitoring by DOH, DTI, and other relevant agencies throughout the calamity period
- Public dissemination of price lists via multiple media platforms to ensure transparency
- Government procurement must not exceed DPRI for essential medicines across all procurement methods
Sanctions
- Violations will be subject to penalties under Section 16 of RA 7581 enforcing consumer protection against price manipulation
Effectivity
- The Order is effective immediately upon release by the Secretary of Health