The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sought the opinion of the Department of Health (DOH) on the possible use of self-administered test kits for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
FDA Director-General Rolando Enrique Domingo said that currently there's no approved self-administered test or home test kits in the Philippines.
"Sumulat kami, ang FDA, sa Department of Health to ask kung ano ang kanilang opinyon dito at kung gagamitin ba nila, kung kakailanganin ba dito sa Pilipinas ang mga self-administered test kit (We, the FDA, wrote to the Department of Health to ask their opinion on whether self-administered test kits will be needed here in the Philippines),” said Domingo on Wednesday Oct. 6.
Domingo said that they asked the DOH if self-administered test kits will be useful for the country's response against COVID-19.
"Kasi ngayon sa mga testing strategy natin, lahat ay ginagawa po ng mga RT-PCR or antigen test, ito ang ginagamit ng DOH ngayon (In our testing strategies at present, everything is done through RT-PCR or antigen tests--- these are what the DOH are using right now)," he said.
"So, depende po yan, hinihintay lang po namin yung kasagutan ng Department of Health if they think it will be useful to our strategies (So, it depends, we are just waiting for the response from the Department of Health if they think it will be useful to our strategies),” he added.
To note, other countries like the US already approved the use of COVID-19 home test kits.
"This new testing option is an important diagnostic advancement to address the pandemic and reduce the public burden of disease transmission," the US FDA said in a statement in November last year.