by Raadee Sausa November 30, 2020 Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan. (Photo from her Facebo...
November 30, 2020
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| Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan. (Photo from her Facebook account) |
LUCENA CITY - A House panel approved a bill seeking the stockpiling of medicines for public health emergencies like the current coronavirus pandemic.
The committee on health chaired by Rep. Helen Tan of Quezon has approved the substitute to the proposed “Health Procurement and Stockpiling Act,” which seeks to ensure supply of critical drugs, vaccines, devices and materials in times of public health emergencies.
Tan, who authored the bill, believes that the bill would help the country’s public health system be more resilient, especially in times of health emergencies such as the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
"The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the need to preposition critical and strategic pharmaceuticals and medical devices as well as the supply of raw materials. The country needs to be proactive in its response to public health emergencies,” she said.
The lawmaker said pandemic has caught the country and the world “flat footed” as it affected global and local production and distribution of pharmaceuticals and medical devices and the supply of raw materials, active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipients, packaging materials, including finished medical products needed to combat the pandemic and other diseases of public health.
Tan reminded that some countries imposed limits on export of medicines and medical supplies/equipment such as facemasks, shields, and ventilators to mitigate critical shortages in their countries that have also aggravated the situation.
She also stressed that the country needs to prepare for infectious disease control, noting that the Philippines, because of its location, is one of the most natural-disaster prone countries in the world.
“Given this situation, the country’s preparedness in times of public health emergencies is significantly necessary such as during pandemics and natural disasters,” Tan said.
The bill will create the Health Procurement and Stockpiling Bureau (HPSB) that will be tasked to stockpile, conserve, and facilitate the release of adequate amounts of potentially life-saving pharmaceuticals, vaccines, devices, and materials in times of public health emergencies.
The HPSB will be established under the Department of Health (DoH) and would subsume the existing Procurement Service and the Supply Chain Management Service to serve as the principal agency mandated to “undertake a transparent, fair, proactive, and innovative procurement service for the DoH.”
Other critical functions of the HPSB include the “identification of strategic and critical drugs and medicines, vaccines, devices, and materials needed for public health emergencies that have the distinct capability of being stockpiled in strategic and secure areas of the country; supplementation of drugs and medicines, vaccines, devices, and materials to state supplies acting as a stopgap buffer when the immediate supply of adequate amounts of drugs and medicines, vaccines, devices, and materials may not be immediately available; and ensuring the rotation, replenishment, and freshness of stocks and that there exists at all times steady, available and adequate supply of drugs and medicines, vaccines, devices, and materials, which are essential in responding to public health emergencies."
Seven laws signed by the President last November 27, 2020 which Rep. Tan sponsored at the Committee on Health. Another accomplishments.
1.RA 11501 - increasing Bed Capacity of Quirino Memorial Medical Center from 500-1,000
2. RA 11500 - upgrade of Siargao Dist. Hosp in Dapa Surigao del Norte
3. RA11499 - expanding services of Malita Dist. Hosp. Davao Occidental and renaming it to Malita Womens and Children's Wellness Center
4. RA 11498 - increasing bed capacity of Cagayan Valley Medical Center in Tuguegaroa City, Cagayan from 500-1000
5. RA 11497 - increasing bed capacity of Las Piñas Gen. Hosp and Sattelite Trauma Center from 200-500
6. RA 11496 - increasing bed capacity of Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao, Iloilo City from 425-700
7. RA 11495 - estaishment of Bicol Women' s and Children's Hosp. in Pamplona, Camarines Sur with 200 bed capacity
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