Group of health workers criticizes the Department of Health ‘irresponsible’ for wasting medicines and supplies

Facade of the DOH headquarters in Manila. File photo from INQUIRER.net / Consuelo Marquez

MANILA, Philippines – A group of healthcare workers criticized the Department of Health (DOH) for allowing more than P2 billion in medicines and other medical and dental supplies to go to waste and expire, saying it is a stark contrast to small budgets. from hospitals. .

According to the Alliance of Healthcare Workers (AHW), the DOH clearly misused its funds, which could have been allocated instead for the purchase of necessary medications for COVID-19 patients.

P2.2 billion worth of medical and dental supplies that are expired, near expired, or slowly moving from warehouses to their destination had recently been noted by the Audit Commission (COA) in its 2019 annual audit report. for DOH.

COA said the delay in distributing the items can be attributed to poor procurement planning, inefficient and uncoordinated transfers, and a lack of proper monitoring and storage, all of which impeded the delivery of high-quality medical services to the people, especially the poor.

“This is clearly an irresponsible act and total negligence on the part of the DOH, that although the budget allocated to the MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenses) of 66 DOH hospitals is very small, billions of pesos in medicines and supplies have just been expire in the DOH offices, ”said AHW National President Robert Mendoza.

“Patients and even healthcare workers are dying because public tertiary hospitals like the José Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRRMMC) have a limited budget for MOOE to purchase medicines and medical supplies, including the emergency purchase of drugs for COVID. -19 ”, he added.

Mendoza speculated that if the government skipped the purchase of these drugs and supplies that just went to waste, it could have provided additional funding to various hospitals during the health crisis.

“This has caused the death of our colleague and health companion, Judyn Bonn Suerte, who was forced to be transferred to the Dr. José N. Rodríguez Memorial Hospital (DJNRH) because the José Reyes Memorial Medical Center, where she worked, I do not have a medicine. for COVID-19 patients like him, ”he noted.

This is not the first time the COA has drawn DOH’s attention to expired or expired drugs and supplies within its stock. In 2019, COA released its agency audit report for 2018, which showed that P367 million worth of drugs are still inside DOH warehouses.

The issue brought another talking point for DOH, which was already beset by accusations of incompetence amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers asked DOH to explain why the drugs were being kept and not being distributed, but the department said the transfer is currently in progress and could end by the end of the year.

Mendoza said something must change with the DOH systems, or else the same things would happen in the next few years.

“We are very concerned that this type of anomaly and negligence will occur again in the coming years if the budget for ‘Purchase and Assignment of Medicines, Medications and Vaccines’ and ‘Assistance to Indigent Patients’ is centralized in the central DOH office and offices regional ”, he affirmed.

“Gross negligence on the part of DOH and government authorities is unacceptable. Someone has to be held accountable. Medicines are wasted even though many people are dying and seriously ill because they cannot afford to buy their medicines and cannot get relief due to the callousness of the government, ”he added.

JPV

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