President Rodrigo R. Duterte asserted that the prices of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines cannot be disclosed due to a confidential disclosure agreement between the government and vaccine manufacturers.
In his weekly address, President Duterte pointed out that non-disclosure of the prices especially during a pandemic is the “practice of the industry.”
“Ngayon, pamamahala ‘yan kasi law of supply and demand ngayon. Kagaya ng isda sa palengke, ‘pag maraming isda, mura iyan. ‘Pag limitado ang isda, mahal. (Now, it is governed by the law of supply and demand. Just like fish in the market, if there are plenty of fishes, the price is affordable. If it is limited, it’s pricey).”
The Chief Executive explained that in order to acquire a vaccine, Vaccine Czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. along with Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III sign a memorandum of confidentiality. They cannot reveal the price because it will lead to some countries’ loss of profit.
He then read an article from Malaysia’s New Straits Times dated December 27, 2020 stating that a vaccine deal will be at stake if information is revealed.
“Vaccine deal at stake if info revealed. Breaking the non-disclosure agreement that has been in place between pharmaceutical companies and the government to secure vaccine deal can lead to the cancellation of vaccine delivery, said legal experts. A non-disclosure agreement protection includes protecting medical trade secrets, ‘special prices’ given to a particular country, the timeline of the vaccine, any other involved in recommending or guaranteeing the deal, or any other arrangements. Apart from the issue of damages and inability to obtain the shipment of vaccines, there will be an issue of credibility and reputation that may affect the government.”
“Any other deal that you may enter in the future, again it will suffer a snag because they cannot really wait or they refuse to find out why this peculiar thing about non-disclosure is always included in the preliminary contracts that you sign with the manufacturers,” President Duterte reiterated. – PTV News Online
