Who decides who gets what medicine at what price? A Stakeholder Analysis of the Cheaper Medicines Bill

Abstract

Stakeholders participate in governance, like in the process of legislation, especially in democratic countries like the Philippines. These stakeholders act according to their interests that stand to be affected, their capabilities or resources, and through different means. This paper maps out the stakeholders who have either supported or antagonized the passage of the Cheaper Medicines Bill into law. The theoretical frameworks used in this study were the Stakeholder Analysis and Political Mapping. This paper made use of Key informant Interviews and extensive literature research. The respondents for the interviews were chosen based on their expertise, knowledge, involvement, or a combination of those, as regards the Cheaper Medicines Bill. A presentation and discussion of the results of interviews and literature research were done in this paper. It was found out in this research that several persons and groups that range from members of the private sector, academe, non-govemmental organizations, government agencies, international organizations, media, and private corporations have been involved in the dynamics of the Cheaper Medicines Bill. Their interests, strategies, and the impacts of their efforts varied widely, as found out in the research. Public awareness and vigilance proved to be the most important factors in the passage of the Cheaper Medicines. Thus, recommendations were given at the end of the study.