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[Sexpat]

"Health officials and consumers are waging war against private drug companies over the Cabinet's resolution to end the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation's monopoly to supply state hospitals. . .

The Thai Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association viewed the Cabinet's resolution as a positive way to end the GPO's long-time monopoly."If the Cabinet revises the resolution, it would not only affect pharmaceutical firms but also the public health system," president Chernporn Tengamnuay said yesterday.

Chernporn said the GPO now supplied 70 per cent of the market, leaving small and medium-sized companies at risk. Without the monopoly, these small producers could supply medicine to public hospitals at competitive prices and that would benefit consumers.

"The GPO should instead focus on complicated medicines because it has enough budget and researchers to develop those medicines," he said.The pharmaceutical makers would focus on reducing their production costs because they could not avoid fierce competition due to the monopoly. . .

Dr Witit Artavakun, who leads the GPO, said that if the resolution remained, its revenue would be affected and the organisation would be unable to produce enough essential drugs. He said the agency was not ready to compete with private firms. He is worried that patients who suffer from diseases like thalasemia, bird flu, and HIV/Aids could not get access to essential drugs that could save their lives."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/11/16...es_30056297.php