The Bureau of Internal Revenue has included 59 medicines for cancer, diabetes and heart-related problems into the list of those exempted from the Value Added Tax in an apparent bid to make the medicine more affordable especially to the poor.
The BIR’s updated list of VAT-exempted medicines came after the endorsement made by the Food and Drug Administration which was received by the agency on June 29. In a letter addressed to BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui, Jr., the list provided by the FDA includes 25 medicines for cancer, 10 medicines for diabetes, two medicines for high cholesterol, six medicines for hypertension, 11 medicines for kidney diseases, five medicines for mental illness, and one for tuberculosis.The same letter from the FDA also removed the injectable Ixekizumab in the list of the VAT-exempted medicine for cancer.
“Upon evaluation of the the Certificate of Product Registration and package insert of the above-mentioned drug product, it was noted that it is approved as Interleukin Inhibitor indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults who are candidates for systematic therapy. Hence, the product is not a treatment for cancer,” the letter dated May 22 read.