I want to find out more about  
PHAREX MEDical Information
and Communication Services
Learn more about PHAREX MED.I.C.S. »


  Password Help

Not yet a MED.I.C.S. Enrollee?
Sign-up Now!

 

Watsons leads way to Better Health

Pharex HealthCorp PR Department
September 22, 2010

Watsons leads way to better health with breakthrough compliance program for hypertension and diabetes

August 17, 2010 - Makati Shangri-la, Makati City

LEADING THE WAY:    From left to right: Watsons COO Robert Sun; Pharex President and CEO Beau Agana III; Pharex Chairman of the Board Manolo D. Escueta and Pharex Director Jappy Pascual.

Watsons Personal Care Store, one of the country’s leading and trusted drug stores, has launched a breakthrough program that aims to help patients suffering from chronic lifestyle diseases such as hypertension and diabetes to effectively manage their illnesses via strict compliance to prescribed medications.

With the new Patient Compliance Pack, Watsons wants to improve the rate of compliance to treatment among Filipinos suffering from chronic ailments. Non-compliance to prescribed drug regimen continues to be a serious problem in the Philippines and worldwide, and is a major factor in the growing mortality brought about by these diseases. To date, compliance to medications for chronic and acute ailments in developing countries is as low as 50% and in the Philippines, the percentage is even lower.

ENJOY HEALTHIER, GOOD QUALITY LIFE:    From left to right: DOH Undersecretary Alex Padilla and Pharex President and CEO Beau Agana III; Anna Maria Lourdes Pascual-Cenzon, Director for Design Services and Corporate Communication and Manuel Salazar, Pharex Director.

With the program, Watsons aims to instill the importance of compliance as key to effectively manage these diseases. Explains Lyle Joseph Morrell, Health Business Unit Director of Watsons: “It’s high time for patients to take charge of their health and be disciplined in managing their illnesses. Through this program, we want to build awareness on medication compliance as a vital tool for therapeutic health, especially when it comes to chronic ailments. This is because, despite having these illnesses, it’s still possible for patients to enjoy healthier, good quality life.”

The growing number of patients suffering from these two diseases validates the relevance of the program. In the Philippines alone, about 10.5 million Filipinos have been found to be hypertensive, while an estimated 4 million Filipinos are diagnosed with diabetes. What’s alarming is that these diseases rank among today’s killer diseases.

  In spite of these findings, some patients find it difficult to comply with their drug treatment. There’s the issue of lack awareness on the severity of these killer diseases and on the importance of medication compliance itself. The high cost and poor access to prescribed drugs are major factors, which sadly continues to be a dilemma among disadvantaged patients.

FOR BETTER HEALTH, WE COMPLY:   Upper Left Box, left to right: Watsons Consultant Nigel Healey; Pharex Chairman of the Board Manuel D. Escueta and DOH Undersecretary Alex Padilla. Upper Right Box, left to right: Watsons COO Robert Sun; Watsons Merchandising Controller May Abarquez and Philip Cu-Unjieng. Lower Left Box, left to right: Watsons Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager Belle Pesayco; Watsons Group Category Manager Aida Lapez and Pharex National Sales Manager Timmie Guillermo. Lower Right Box, left to right: Watsons Health Business Director Lyle Joseph Morrell; Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) assistant vice president Eufe Tantia and PHAP president and executive director Reiner Gloor.

To address these concerns, Watsons enlisted the support of Pharex HealthCorp, one of the country’s pioneers in generic medicines, to ensure consumers get high-quality compliance packs at an affordable price.  

“By supporting this program, Pharex wants to help patients get better access to high-quality, effective and affordable medicines so they can effectively manage their illnesses,” said Pharex HealthCorp president Tomas Marcelo Agana III.

“More importantly, we want patients and consumers to realize that non-compliance to prescribed medications increase their risk for complications like losing limbs and kidney failure due to diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and even death. So early on, one has to be disciplined and comply with prescribed medicines to avoid these serious outcomes,” added Agana. 

TEAM KA-PHAREX:    From left to right: Pharex Regional Sales Manager for Chronic Care Gladys M. Pangilinan; Pharex Regional Sales Manager for Trade Group Al Manuel; Pharex Product Manager Rolland Tria; Pharex National Sales Manager Timmie Guillermo and Pharex Assistant Product Manager Jeff de Guzman.

Available at all Watsons branches nationwide, The Watsons Patient Compliance Pack will make it easier for patients to adhere to their drug regimen. Available to hypertensive and diabetic patients, the Watsons Compliance Pack comes in easy-to-dispense blister packs. It contains a month-long supply of medication with each day’s dosage clearly marked to remind patients to take just the exact amount. There’s also a refill reminder so patients will remember to buy their medicine before the current pack runs out. A patient education material is included in every kit to guide and educate the patients in maintaining a proper diet in correlation to their respective disease categories. Buying a Compliance Pack will also result in 16% savings in the total monthly cost of the patient’s maintenance medicines.

To make compliance more cost-efficient for patients, Watsons complements the program with the new Watsons Patient Compliance Card, a rewards program exclusive to compliance pack users to encourage them to continuously comply with their medication and start modifying their lifestyle through a rewards system that will give them great discounts and freebies from healthcare partners.

To get a Watsons Patient Compliance Card, a customer must buy at least one (1) Patient Compliance Pack at any Watsons outlet. Among the medicines that will be included in the Watsons Compliance Pack are Pharex Amlodipine, Pharex Losartan for hypertension and Pharex Simvastatin for hyperlipidemia (high Cholesterol). As with other tools in disease management, Watsons encourages patients to complement these medicines with a healthy lifestyle that includes eating healthy, engaging in physical activities, and avoiding smoking and drinking.

 From left to right: Watsons Senior Category Manager Emil Perez; Pharmacy Area Manager Cathy Atienza; Brand Manager Geraldine Baula; Pharex HealthCorp National Sales Manager Timmie Guillermo; Senior Category Manager Laurie Cabaies; event host Cheryl Cosim; and Watsons Group Catergory Manager Aida Lapez .

With this breakthrough compliance program, Watsons hopes that patients will now have better access to high-quality, effective and affordable medications so they can enjoy a healthier and better quality of life even if they are already suffering from chronic diseases like hypertension or diabetes.  

Article index: