No Approved Therapeutic Claims in the Probinsyas

Having spent many years in the provinces here in the Philippines, I grew up with the way of life of the probinsyanos. I’m particular in the Visayas and Mindanao areas, where my family came. Of course, cable TV and internet are available only in towns or in major urban areas, however, radio is still the number one form of communication and entertainment in the rural areas. Of course, when it comes to marketing, local AM and FM radio stations are the main medium of advertising.

However, sometime in the mid-2000′s, there seemed to be a “boom” of herbal products and alternative medicines over the air. All of a sudden, the usual farming fertilizers and poultry feeds were replaced by alternative herbal products and related stuff. Of course when it comes to marketing the product, they were insisting that your health is guaranteed to improve–to the point that even the most serious of the conditions may be healed by the alternative medicine. Of course given the lack of access to health facilities and the rural masa cannot afford to buy expensive medicines, they’ll surely be attracted with the ads and buy those!

Then came in later, the testimonials are airing. For most of the morning all the way to the evening, testimonials coming from different people…from different interviews of different people with different ailments…some serious. Most of the interviews emphasize on the masa, those who cannot afford prescribed drugs. They’ll at first give a sense of hopelessness from their ailments, that even the doctor couldn’t cure them…then came the alternative drug which became a “cure all.” The respondents were pleased and were thanking the product. Somehow, the interviews are convincing…and it was playing over and over again…not just on AM radio, but also on FM!

But there was something missing on that part…with the proliferation of the alternative medicine, is it really effective? Looks like the consumers in the barrios may have assumed that it is indeed the elixir of life! There was no disclaimer of such. Di uso yan dun. Then came in DOH Secretary Esperanza Cabral mandating all in the food supplement industry to bluntly say that, “There are no approved therapeutic claims” to the supplements. A disclaimer that may save the ass of both the drug company, the health officials and the consumers themselves.

Of course, the drug companies said that it was a suicide. It may affect their business because of the disclaimer. However, as reported by Gretchen Malalad on ABS-CBN, the public seems to be completely unaware of the term! Pampapayat or no-prescription drug, as what the say…looks like the masa hasn’t understand the essence of it! Cabral took one step further–translate it in Tagalog or Filipino–so that the people may know. In my opinion, I doubt that it’ll be suicidal since most of the people are still misinformed!

Anyway, Adelle Chua of the Manila Standard said that, “Bad judgment has only one cure—information.” Indeed! Its one critical fact that the consumers should be protected.

However, going back to the barrios, some herbal products still advertise WITHOUT the said disclaimer. Are they doing this intentionally because they are far from the eyes of the national government in Manila? Maybe its time that the people in the countryside should be educated with the right information…perhaps, much better if the message is in vernacular.

For now, testimonials still linger in the mind of some of the rural folk…or maybe because its about time that the government should reach out further to isolated areas and expand the health insurance coverage, especially those who are the needy. Health is one precious resource than any human wouldn’t dare to lose.