Generic Medicine to Follow ASEAN Standard
Tuesday, 06 June, 2006 | 14:05 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The government will shortly standardize generic medicine before they enter the ASEAN medicine-free market in 2008. “Generic medicine, whether officially certified or not, will have to adopt ASEAN’s pharmaceutical standards,” said the Pharmaceutical Service's Director General of Ministry of Health, Richard Panjaitan, at the 2nd ASEAN Pharmaceutical Congress yesterday in Jakarta.

According to Panjaitan, many pharmaceutical manufactures, especially the producers of generic medicines, have been producing medicine according to ASEAN pharmaceutical standards. The standards consist of a warranty for use, health, thorough testing, and basic composition. Through this congress, Indonesian pharmaceutical manufactures will adjust their pharmaceutical policies to ASEAN’s policies.

“We'd also like to make people believe that the value of national generic medicine will be of the same quality as other ASEAN products,” said Anthony Th. Sunaryo, Head of the Pharmaceutical Manufactures Alliance. Should the acknowledgement be granted, he added, Indonesia will easily export its medicine to such ASEAN countries as Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Myanmar.

That means, Anthony explained, that ASEAN's affirmation of the medicine’s quality will increase competition among Indonesian products and ASEAN. The adjustment of the medicine’s quality will also benefit Indonesian pharmaceutical manufactures for it could easily convince people that local generic medicines are safe to use and have been investigated thoroughly.

INDRA MANENDA ROSSI