Pinoy Pharmacy

As excerpted on the DOH website, PPHA expressed its support to DOH on Herbal Food and Dietary Supplements.

“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

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