The Department of Health (DOH) responded to the issue that DOH has around P2.2 billion worth of expired drugs and medicines, and medical and dental supplies which have been taken out of context and circulated in news articles over the past two (2) days.

The DOH emphasized that the CY 2019 COA-Consolidated Annual Audit Report (CAAR) on which these articles were based was for CY 2019, which means this only covers the period of January to December 2019, adding that the current status of the DOH Central Office figures is now different. Specifically in the following:

 

	2019 COA-CAAR	Update
On expired commodities:	The COA report provides that the DOH central office has P166,320 worth of expired commodities.	●         These pertain to 840 dental kits remaining from 63,250 procured of which 62,410 (98.67%) have already been distributed. ●         Only the fluoride toothpaste which is just one component of the dental kits are with expiry dates. ●         Other components of the remaining 840 kits, specifically kiddie toothbrushes, and germicidal soap per kit are usable and were distributed and utilized.
On overstocked/ slow moving/idle commodities:	The   COA report provides overstocked/Slow-moving/ idle commodities amounting to P 1.1 B	●         As of September 2020 P 815M was already distributed between January to August 2020. ●         There is still ongoing distribution for the remaining balance of P 322M whose expiry dates range from CY 2021 to CY 2023.
On near expiry commodities:	The COA report indicates that the DOH Central Office has 1B nearing expiry.	●        As of Sept 30 2020, all products have already been completely distributed between the months of January-August 2020.

“We are one with the Commission on Audit and we are closely working with them in deploying and dispatching commodities in a timely manner. I thank the many hardworking men and women of DOH who have successfully found a way to address these issues. Despite the pandemic, the DOH has continued the distribution of medicines and supplies,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.The DOH acknowledged the issues flagged by the commission and recognized its vital role in ensuring that government resources are properly allocated and utilized especially during this time of COVID-19.

The DOH has implemented reforms over the past years to address these issues. Health Secretary Francisco Duque credits these improvements to the formation of a dedicated Procurement and Supply Chain Management Team (PSCMT) and the reorganization of the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau (DPCB), the office in-charge of determining commodities and supplies of public health significance that will be provided to local government units (LGUs).

In fulfillment of the UHC Act’s provisions on financing population and individual-based services that clearly delineate the roles of the DOH, PhilHealth, and LGUs in health service delivery, complemented by the phased implementation of the Mandanas Ruling, the Health Department is expected to procure significantly less medicines and commodities. The purchase of drugs, medicines, and commodities shall be covered by the PhilHealth benefit packages. More funds are expected to be directly transferred to the LGUs.

“Sa mga susunod na taon, alinsunod na rin sa UHC at sa Mandanas Ruling — ay significantly bababa ang binibili nating mga gamot at iba pang commodities. Layunin ng batas na dapat PhilHealth na po ang magcover dito, habang sa Mandanas Ruling naman, direkta na pong ibababa ang pondo sa mga LGUs,” Sec. Duque said.