Philippine pharmacists association supports DOH on herbal supplements regulation

The Philippine Pharmacists Association (PPhA), the accredited national organization of pharmacists in the Philippines, expressed its support for the Department of Health’s (DOH) issuance of Administrative Order (A.O.) No. 2010-0008, which will require herbal food and dietary supplements manufacturers to translate the cautionary statement “No Approved Therapeutic Claims” into Filipino in all their advertising and promotional materials.

The English phrase will be replaced by the statement, “Mahalagang Paalala: Ang (name of product) ay hindi gamot at hindi dapat gamiting panggamot sa anumang uri ng sakit”.

“We believe that the move to modify and translate said phrase is appropriate for the reason that food/dietary supplements are really not supposed to be used for treatment or cure, simply because they are NOT DRUGS.”, the PPhA said in its statement.

“The current use of the statement No Approved Therapeutic Claims used in promotion and advertisement of food supplements is not easily understood by the general public who have limited knowledge of the specific differences between drugs and food supplements, and as such has been used to the advantage of some business entities for marketing purposes.”, the statement added.

The PPhA also rejected arguments of those opposed to the A.O. that it contravenes other laws and issuances.

“The subject A.O. is not inconsistent with R.A. No. 8423 (The Traditional and Alternative Medicines Act of 1997). It does not stifle promotion and advocacy of alternative preventive and curative health modalities.

However, these health care modalities must have been proven to be safe and effective by those who manufacture, advertise, promote and market them. These modalities must also be consistent with the standards of medical practice, and it must be noted that the establishment of said standards is part of the development process mentioned in Section 2 of R.A. 8423...the DOH as vanguard of the health of the nation must, and has all the right to intervene and make issuances such as the subject A.O. to ensure that health products in the market are safe and effective and their use properly guided through adequate information dissemination.”, the PPhA opined.

The PPhA likewise rejected the notion that the A.O. “falsely presupposes that food/dietary supplements do not have curative and/or health benefits”. It reminded critics and oppositors that “..if ever there is a curative and/or health benefit in these products, the burden to prove such claim is still on the entity or person who makes such claims pursuant to existing laws, rules, regulations, and standards of classification of products”.

The PPhA also made several recommendations in its statement, including the review of current regulatory policies and guidelines to on the integration of alternative and traditional medicine in the national healthcare system, the compulsory registration of ALL food supplements being marketed liberally all over the country and the participation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the evaluation of food/dietary supplement advertising materials by the Advertising Standards Council (ASC), under the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP).

“We wholeheartedly thank the PPhA for supporting us on this move.”, said Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral. “As more and more professional societies in the health sector back our Administrative Order, it only proves that what we are doing is just and rational.”, she further added.