Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Wednesday the DOH is expected to complete the distribution of the P2 billion worth of nearly expired medicines and supplies by the end of 2020.
Commission on Audit (COA) report revealed the Department of Health (DOH) has P2.2 billion worth of expired, nearly expired medicines and dental and medical supplies.
The Palace said yesterday that President Rodrigo Duterte already ordered DOH to distribute the nearly expired medicines and supplies.
“Ang mandato po ng Presidente sa DOH lalung-lalo iyong mag-i-expire na, paki-distribute na po nang hindi masayang at iyong mga overstock at slow-moving naman po ay ilabas na po natin sa ating mga warehouse nang magamit ng ating kababayan,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said at a news conference in Malacañang.
P29 million of the P2.2 billion were expired, P1.14 billion were overstocked, and P1 billion were near expiry.
“Ito pong P1 billion na near expiry, lahat po iyan ay na-distribute na from January to August 2020. Iyong [another] P1 billion na overstocked or slow-moving, nagkaroon na rin ng distribution from January to August 2020 at P322 million na lang ang natitira. Scheduled na po ang distribution nito until the end of the year,” Vergeire said in an online forum.
The DOH said the P29 million expired items were mainly composed of dental kits.
“It is down to 840 dental kits set for distribution,” Vergeire said.
DOH to complete distribution of nearly expired medicines, supplies
She added the DOH had established a logistics and warehousing unit to address the backlog in distribution.
“Hindi po namin ikinakaila na may challenges sa distribution, kaya nga po nagkaroon kami ng unit na ito,” she added.
“The occurrence of these expired, overstocked, and nearly expired inventory items is a manifestation of an excessive expenditure since items were procured more than what is needed. It is a result of poor inventory/supply management system covering procurement planning, monitoring, storage, and acceptance/issuance/transfer/distribution of goods,” COA said.
“Essentially, the existence of this conditions affects the curative efficacy of drugs and medicines and wastage of government funds, thus, failing to deliver a quality health care services,” it added.