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ALTHOUGH grateful that his budget was presented for approval after an interpellation of 6 hours until Wednesday night, the Secretary of Health, Francisco T. Duque III, calls on the senators to grant the Department of Health (DOH) Additional funding for the Covid-19 vaccine.
“I thank the Senate for their approval of the DOH 2021 budget and I look forward to increasing funding for our Covid vaccine program,” Duque said in a text message to BusinessMirror.
DOH’s proposed budget for 2021 is P136.6 billion.
From the proposed budget, the money allocated for the Covid vaccine was increased to P8 billion from the previous P2.5 billion. There is also an unscheduled fund of P10 billion to be allocated for the vaccine.
In her opening statement as a budget sponsor for DOH and its accompanying agencies, Senate Finance Committee Deputy Chair Senator Pia S. Cayetano expressed hope that she and her colleagues can pass a budget that can support the “needs health of our people and closing the gaps, which also led to inefficiencies and could potentially lead to patterns of fraud within our healthcare system. “
During the budget deliberation, Cayetano pointed out that people are the greatest resource and their health should be a priority. However, Covid-19 has exposed the gaps in the country’s care and response system. “As we deliberate on our national budget, [we] it should be aimed at closing these gaps, ”he said.
He also noted that certain experts have recommended that the country purchase Covid-19 vaccines from various vendors to minimize the chances of being exposed to just “one particular vaccine and its particular side effects.”
He cited the need to allocate at least P15 billion for the cheapest vaccine: the AztraZeneca vaccine, which is around P610 per person.
“At the other extreme, P436.3 billion for the Sinopharm vaccine, which is the highest price at around P17,690 per person for two doses, while the others are in the middle,” he added. He later corrected the Sinopharm figure: it costs P8,800 for two doses.
DOH has identified priority groups of around 24 million vulnerable Filipinos who need to be vaccinated. This represents about 20 percent of the population and includes frontline health workers, the elderly, the indigent population, and uniformed personnel.
“Apart from vaccines, there are other expenses that we must consider and that are also included in the delivery of vaccines to citizens. This includes cold chain / supply chain, to keep vaccines at strictly controlled temperatures; training and personal protective equipment (PPE) for vaccinators; needles, syringes and other critical equipment, ”he added.
These consumables and logistics, he said, must be purchased or planned in advance, “considering that the whole world is also trying to get hold of them during this global crisis.”
“There are companies that already manufacture these items and we have not yet begun to communicate with them,” he said, lamenting that DOH “is not fully equipped” to handle the requirements of the Covid-19 vaccine supply chain.
He encouraged the government to outsource and negotiate with private companies that are already equipped to handle the vaccines.
Aside from vaccines, he cited progress being made in therapeutic drugs that can be used for people infected with Covid-19.
“We must also pay attention to these developments and continue the work of WHO [World Health Organization] Solidarity trials for these therapeutic drugs, “he said.
Gordon Duke Grill
Previously, faced with the threat of blocking the agency’s budget, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III did not hesitate to admit that there is corruption in the agency during the Senate plenary hearing on Wednesday.
During Senator Richard Gordon’s interpellation, he recalled anomalies in the agency such as the Dengvaxia vaccine, where P3.5 billion of public funds were hastily withdrawn in 2015. The Dengvaxia controversy occurred during the term of the former Secretary of Health, now a representative of Iloilo, Jeanette Garin.
He also mentioned the P3.5 billion contract for the construction of 3,200 barangay health stations in two phases. The contract was awarded to JBros Construction Corporation, also under Garin’s supervision.
“Do you agree that there was corruption here?” Gordon asked.
“I want the Department of Health on record,” he asked while waiting for Senator Cayetano, as a sponsor of the DOH budget and its attached agencies, to respond.
Cayetano then replied: “It is under investigation, although it is possible.”
However, Gordon did not accept her answer.
“Sorry, I cannot accept that answer, and now I am tempted to stop the Department of Health budget if they themselves cannot admit that they have been misled, especially since the Secretary of Health already said this was a poorly planned exercise and the government lost that money, ”Gordon said.
Cayetano responded then: “The answer is yes. The secretary is answering behind me and said yes. “
Gordon lamented that the money involved in these anomalies should be returned to the government and used to provide houses for the poor, especially during this time of calamity.
