DOH reviewing contracts with suppliers of expired medicines

The Department of Health is reviewing its contracts with the suppliers of vaccines and medicines that expired in its warehouses to determine if they could still be replaced at no cost to the DOH.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said of the P18.18-million worth of vaccines and medicines reported by the Commission on Audit (COA) to have "expired and about-to-expire," only P9.96 million are actually past the expiration date.

He said the contracts are being evaluated to determine which of the expired items could be replaced by suppliers.

The COA report, which covered the year 2004, caused Duque and other DOH officials to be grilled by senators during a recent deliberation on their budget for next year. The report showed that aside from the P18.18 million, another P7.29-million worth of GMA 50 medicines sold at the DOH’s 73 Botika sa Barangay outlets at half the price.

The vaccines are intended for campaigns against measles and polio while the medicines include antibiotics and paracetamol and those for hypertension, asthma, dialysis and diabetes.

A DOH investigative committee, headed by Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Alex Padilla, is looking into the report.

The committee is trying to establish the extent of the wastage and who were responsible for it.

Duque had blamed the local officials who "drastically" reduced their immunization sessions in the community, causing the vaccines and medicines to pile up.

"As I have been made to understand in my preliminary meetings with the investigating committee, that in some of the agreements with the suppliers, that indeed, they are going to replace these at no cost," he added.

Duque said the DOH is also implementing measures to save the vaccines and medicines that are about to expire.

"We are identifying the hospitals that are still in need (of medicines and vaccines). Some of these are also being donated to medical missions so they are not completely put to waste," he added. — Sheila Crisostomo