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'Common sense': PH Red Cross lashes at DOH HTAC's slow approval of saliva test's public use
'Common sense': PH Red Cross lashes at DOH HTAC's slow approval of saliva test's public use
Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Senator Richard Gordon lashed Sunday, March 14, at the Department of Health’s Health Technology Assessment Council (DOH HTAC) for its failure to immediately approve the public use of their saliva reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.
He said the DOH’s Council should urgently act on their request amid the surging cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“Ang binabayad sa Red Cross sa swab test ay P3,409. Itong sa saliva test P2,000, kung ikaw ay may utang na malaki, P3,409 ang singil sayo bakit hindi gawin ng gobyerno ilipat dun sa P2,000 kalahati agad ang matitipid ng gobyerno sa pagbayad sa mamayang Pilipino na assured sa Universal Health Care. Common sense yan eh, baka may butas na ulo ng iba dyan hindi na nakakaisip ng matino (For swab test, the government is paying Red Cross P3, 409. This saliva test only costs P2,000, if you have huge debt, and you are charged with P3,409, why not the government chose the P2,000, the government can immediately save half in paying the Filipino people covered by the Universal Health Care. That’s common sense, maybe some of them have holes in their head that they cannot think clearly),” Gordon told the ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo in an interview.
Currently, PhilHealth benefits for swab COVID test package range from P901 to P3,409 as stipulated in its Circular No. 2020-0017.
Gordon said as early as October last year, the PRC sought the public use of their saliva test, which was launched in late January.
“Ngayon nasa March na tayo, wala pa 'yung HTAC approval (It’s already March, no HTAC approval yet),” he said.
Members of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). cannot take advantage of PRC’s saliva COVID-19 PCR test because it is not yet included in the state health insurer’s benefit package. The DOH Health Technology Assessment Council has yet to give its nod for saliva test’s public use.
Gordon called on the concerned authorities to use their head to further lower own the cost of saliva testing and expand and expedite the services.
The PRC has so far conducted almost 30,000 saliva tests.