Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto urged the government to have a mandatory review of the Department of Health’s spending for intensive care unit (ICU) equipment and ventilators.
Recto said there should be a review on this expenditure following reports that DOH “bungled” the acquisition of 200 ICU beds offered by an Austrian company in the latter part of 2020. He added the Health department denied this report.
“In any war, we should always look at the logistics. For the frontlines to keep on fighting, the supply lines must keep on running,” he said.
The senator pointed out that the number of COVID-19 dedicated ventilators in private and public increased from 1,446 in May 2020 to 2,601 units in April 2021 but it “does not seem to be commensurate with the need.”
“Isa pa, hindi natin alam kung ilan ang ambag ng government hospitals. May nagsabi na karamihan ay alokasyon ng mga pribadong ospital (We don’t know how many were provided by the government hospitals. Some are saying that the majority of allocation are from the private hospitals),” Recto said.
“The data should be unbundled so we will know the inventory in government hospitals. Dito dumadagsa ang mga mahihirap, kaya dapat alam natin kung sapat ba ang kanilang mga ICU units, ventilators, high-flow oxygen therapy machines,” he said.
(This is where the poor are seeking help, that is why we need to know if the ICU units, ventilators, and the high-flow oxygen therapy machines are sufficient.)
Review DOH’s spending on ventilators, ICU equipment: Recto
According to the data of DOH, there are 2,521 ICU units nationwide assigned for COVID-19 patients but Recto noted that these numbers are both from private and public hospitals.
“When public hospitals start posting ‘No admission for COVID patients’ signs, then we know the answer,” Recto said.
DOH has been given P29 billion for procurement of additional equipment and buildings in 2019 and 2020. For 2021, an additional P14.7 billion was allocated by Congress.
“For example, part of the DOH’s P35.51 billion share from Bayanihan II authorized expenses is the procurement of P3 billion worth of PPEs. Also included is P4.5 billion for the construction of temporary medical isolation facilities and field hospitals,” Recto said.
“Again, in the case of wards, we have to identify where these are. Our interest is knowing if the DOH has been able to mount a build-up of resources over the past 13 months,” he further stated.