Medicines (File photo) MANILA - The prices of maintenance medicines for non-communicable diseases are affected by inflation and peso devaluation as these are also commodities in the market, a health department official said Wednesday. "Base po sa monitoring namin last December 2022, isang gamot po ang nakita natin, isang set ng gamot, these hypertensive medicines, nagkaroon po tayo ng konting pagtaas (Based on our monitoring in December 2022, we have seen a slight price increase in a set of medicines, these hypertensive medicines), which was because of the inflation and the peso devaluation," Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing in Pasay City. Vergeire did not cite the brand names of the medicines. The DOH, through the Cheaper Medicines Act or Republic Act 9502, monitors the prices of medicines to ensure quality medicines are available to the public. "Kapag tiningnan natin sa kabuuan, nagkakaroon tayo ng stable pric