Patients save P45-M from gov't drug project
Roxas City -- About P45- million savings by patients of various diseases were noted by the Capiz provincial government in view of its Parallel Drug Importation (PDI) project implementation in the last five years.
This was revealed by Dr. Jarvis Punsalan, Provincial Health Officer and Drug Management Reforms Project Coordinator, stressing an estimated eight million patient-savings for 2005 alone.
The project is an awardee to the upcoming awarding ceremony by the Regional Development Council (RDC) 6 in its search for "Best Public Sector Projects" in Western Visayas provincial category.
PDI, popularly known as "Presyong Tama, Gamot Pampamilya," was initiated by Senator Mar Roxas in 2001 to facilitate access of Capiceños to cheap branded medicines imported from India. It started with an initial budget of P1 million.
"Currently, there are 43 drugs under the province's Drug Management Reforms - nine are imported under PDI," said Punsalan during a media briefing.
The low-priced quality medicines available at the Roxas Memorial Provincial Hospital (RMPH) and other district hospital outlets include drugs for hypertension, diabetes, tetanus, gastro-intestinal as well as respiratory diseases and anti-biotics.
Meanwhile, the province has the cheapest procurement prices for medicines in Western Visayas based on the Quality Improvement Demonstration Study (QIDS) by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) in cooperation with the Department of Health, University of the Philippines (UP) Economics Foundation and the Institute for Global Health - University of California in San Francisco.
(PIA)