Amid audit findings assailing the Department of Health for allowing millions of pesos worth of stored medicines to expire and go to waste, the House of Representatives Committee on Health approved the proposed “Health Procurement and Stockpiling Act” that will seeks to stash “adequate amounts” of pharmaceuticals and medicines needed in times of emergencies.
Chaired by Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan, the House panel moved to endorse for plenary approval House Bill (HB) 6995 that will provide for the stockpiling of strategic and critical drugs and vaccines, devices, and materials for use during public health emergencies.
Tan authored the bill that will address the lack of access to strategic and critical health needs in times that they are badly needed to address public health problems similar to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“One case in point that caught the country and the world flat footed is the current COVID-19 situation, which affected the global and local production and distribution of pharmaceuticals and medical devices as well as the supply of raw materials, active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipients, packaging materials, as well as finished medical products needed to combat COVID-19 and other disease of public health,” Tan said.
It was recalled that when COVID-19 started to threaten public health, the government scurried to access facemasks, personal protective equipment, and even drugs believed to be effective against the dreaded disease.
Tan said this is the situation that her bill proposes to address.
However, during the committee deliberations of the bill, Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin reminded the legislative panel of the CoA findings that assailed DoH for stockpiling millions of pesos worth of medicines and drugs that have not been distributed to those needing them.
In its 2019 annual audit report for the DoH, CoA said that around P2.2-billion worth of medicines medical and dental supplies kept in DoH bodegas have expired or were nearing expiry.
Auditors blamed deficiencies in internal control being observed in warehouses and storage facilities of the DoH and its regional branches.
Poor procurement planning, inefficient, and uncoordinated transfer or distribution and lack of monitoring and proper storage should be avoided, said CoA.
Garin recalled that the government had hoarded medicines for outbreaks that threatened public health in the past but the drugs purchased could not be used for other diseases.
During the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoV2 from 2002 to 2004, the government went on panic buying for medicines which likewise went to waste after the threat of the epidemic was contained.
Tan said issues raised in the CoA report will be addressed with the creation of the Health Procurement and Stockpiling Bureau that will serve as the principal agency that will be assigned to “undertake a transparent, fair, proactive, and innovative procurement service for the DoH.
The HPSB will be tasked to identify strategic and critical drugs and medicines, vaccines, medical devices, and materials needed for public health emergencies that “have the distinct capability of being stockpiled in strategic and secure areas in the country.”