DOH probes P25 million worth of expiring medicines

The Department of Health (DOH) is now investigating a Commission on Audit (COA) report that around P25 million worth of "expired and about-to-expire" vaccines and medicines have piled up in its warehouses.

DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said a task force, headed by Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Alex Padilla, had been created to conduct the probe.

"We have to look into this and quickly plug the leaks. We cannot afford leakages under a very tight budgetary situation. We should be able to stretch and maximize the value of every peso that we receive," he said.

Duque assured that the DOH is implementing "corrective measures" to ensure the proper disposition of its medical supplies.

The COA’s annual report for 2004 showed the DOH had P18.18 million worth of expired and expiring vaccines and medicines and another P7.29 million worth of the so-called "GMA 50" medicines in 33 out of 73 GMA-participating hospitals.

The "GMA medicines" are sold at a 50 percent discount at "Botika ng mga Barangay" outlets set up at 73 public hospitals.

The report was revealed during a Senate deliberation for the DOH’s budget for next year.

"The DOH has a very limited budget. We have always been begging for additional budget and it’s really saddening that we have wastage like this. But whether the wastages are deliberate or not, it’s the subject of a current investigation," Duque said.

The DOH had bought the vaccines for its campaigns against measles and polio. The GMA medicines, on the other hand, include those for hypertension, antibiotic and diabetes.

According to Dr. Robert So, Duque’s head executive assistant, the task force is now trying to establish exactly how many vaccines or medicines have been stocked.

So said the COA report was "consolidated" and did not mention pertinent details like the volume of the concerned medical items and when they were purchased and kept in the warehouses.

The DOH found out, however, that the vaccines and medicines expired while stored in the warehouses used by the agency’s Centers for Health and Development (CHD).

Duque blamed devolution of the health care system for the wastage. Under the law, the delivery of health services was passed on to local leaders.

The investigation, which may be finished by next week, covers the DOH and local officials who are responsible for the non-usage of the vaccines and medicines.

Duque added that after delivery to the CHDs, the vaccines have not been used because some local officials "drastically" cut down on their immunization sessions where the vaccines should have been administered.

"The transportation vouchers or the allowances that should have been given the field health officers responsible for the vaccination of community children for measles and polio was scrapped" by local leaders, he said.

Duque assured the public that the DOH is instituting reforms in its warehousing and distribution system. One of these measures is the use of the state-of-the art storage facilities at the DOH-run Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Alabang for keeping vaccines and medicines.

The DOH will also implement the "first in-first out" scheme in which the items with a short expiration period will be distributed first.

"This incident may give the impression that we have an oversupply of vaccines and medicines. We don’t... We actually need more so we really intend to use our supply properly," he added.