‘Parang may pulitika:’ Ombudsman questions why DOH snubbed UP-developed test kits

Published Jun 19, 2020 2:44:58 PM

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 19) – The Department of Health’s decision to snub locally-developed test kits for COVID-19 and buy thousands of supply from abroad triggered the Ombudsman investigation into the agency.

Ombudsman Samuel Martires revealed Friday that he found the DOH’s decision to buy 100,000 test kits from a foreign manufacturer rather than use the ones created by a team of scientists from the University of the Philippines as a red flag.

He said they read in the papers that UP has developed COVID-19 test kits, but it appears that the Department of Health did not give it proper attention to that.

“We conducted our discreet investigation asking some people in the Department of Health, and we found out, parang may pulitika [it’s like there’s politics involved],” Martires told CNN Philippines’ The Source, also citing reports that there were irregularities in the purchase of foreign-made test kits.

Martires said the investigation was stalled because DOH officials would not talk to them, until it had to be put on hold with the declaration of the Metro Manila-wide lockdown.

The UP National Institutes of Health announced that they have already developed a local test kit for the novel coronavirus in late January, together with research and development firm Manila HealthTek, Inc. The kits, funded by the Department of Science and Technology, was referred to the DOH for validation and approval for use in the country.

At that time, the DOH said the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine also purchased the first batch of test kits for COVID-19 from a foreign manufacturer, which will cut short the processing time of swab samples. Prior to this, authorities had to send patient specimen to a laboratory in Australia to confirm if the person has the disease.

Subsequent reports alleged anomalies in the procurement, with former Health Secretary Janette Garin claiming that the test kits and machines used to process samples were overpriced. She accused a local supplier of jacking up the prices of these kits by up to triple the original cost by serving as exclusive distributor of these kits in the Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte ordered an investigation into these issues.

The Food and Drug Administration proceeded to accredit other rapid test kits from foreign suppliers in March. The UP test kits were approved for use on April 3.

In May, RITM recalled UP’s test kits due to “minor problems” detected during validation.

SOURCE: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/6/19/Ombudsman-questions-DOH-UP-test-kits.html