MANILA - Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said he is in talks with pharmaceutical groups to discuss the production of generic drugs.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr in his State of the Nation Address mentioned that increasing the supply of generic drugs in the market will help bring down its cost due to competition.

But Pascual said, the challenge is boosting consumer confidence in generic drugs.

"I met with the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines and we had a good interchange. There’s another pharmaceutical association consisting of domestic companies, I am also meeting with them," he said.

"Ang laban dito is how you convince consumers. To make them believe that generics, especially from reliable producers or manufacturers, are as good as the branded alternative. It’s advertising and promotion of the products," Pascual noted.

The DTI chief, meanwhile, backs President Marcos’s pronouncement that the country will no longer impose COVID-19 lockdowns.

"The reason why many frontline establishments collapsed, is because there are no customers going to them. With no lockdown, restaurants will be more accessible to consumers. There are more businesses that thrive on consumer traffic," Pascual said.

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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