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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider COA suggests 'pro-active' approach to global health risks to save funds

COA suggests 'pro-active' approach to global health risks to save funds

Published Feb 4, 2025 07:55 am

The Commission on Audit (COA) said the government should change its approach on dealing with global health risks by being "more proactive" to save government funds.

It its performance audit report on the Covid-19 National Vaccination Program (CNVP), the COA observed that the government is "crises-driven" when it comes to epidemics and pandemics.

"The Philippines is always prone to the threats of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Most often, the Philippines’ approach towards the threat of epidemics and pandemics is crises-driven. This approach has been proven costly because it hinders the ability to introduce cost-saving and cost-effective strategies," the COA said.

"History has shown that it is far less costly and efficient, in both human suffering and economic terms, to anticipate, prevent, and prepare for infectious diseases than to react with expensive treatments or containment measures to the threats of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases," it added.

The COA, however, acknowledged that there are "concerns" that might impact the country's preparedness for such risks.

It said one of the concerns is demand planning, which involves gathering data nationwide. Another concern, it also said, is sustainability and maintenance planning, which tackles the country's lack of plan for the ultra-cold chain system needed to store medicines or vaccines.

"Concerns about the reliability and accuracy of nationwide masterlisting data arise due to the non-submission of the local government units (LGUs) of the results of their masterlisting required under the Philippine National Deployment and Vaccination Plan (PNDVP)," the report said.

It acknowledged that there are "challenges" in data submission of accomplishments to the Vaccination Operations Reporting System (VORS) per LGU, which might hinder accurate demand planning and forecasting for vaccine allocation.

Thus, the COA suggested that the Department of Health (DOH) strengthen its monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to ensure complete and timely submission of masterlisting data by all LGUs.

It said the DOH should provide additional support and guidance to LGUs and clarify reporting requirements.

The DOH should also implement a system for tracking submissions and incorporate non-resident vaccination data into the demand planning and forecasting process, it added.

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Audit reports Commission on Audit Commission on Audit (COA) DOH
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