The Commission on Audit (COA) recently uncovered P7.43 billion worth of medicines that are either expired (P2.39 million and/or near expiry (P86 million), damaged (P56,376.00), overstocked (P203 million), excessive, understocked (P879,233.00), slow-moving (P5.61 billion), undistributed (P1.5 billion), distributed late and/or accepted below 18 months (18 million).”

It said that this is due to “deficient procurement planning, poor distribution and monitoring systems, and weakness in internal records.” Noting the very high amount of slow-moving and overstocked medicines, it said that DOH spent excessively on inventories beyond its needs.

DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa was quick to explain that every year it is normal to have losses as a certain percentage of the supplies will end more than the shelf life. However, based on the COA findings in 2019, wasted medicine was at P2.2 billion; in 2020 at P95 million; in 2021 at P85 million and last year the current findings of P7.43 billion. It’s not actually as difficult as rocket science to understand the fact that such wastage is perennial and is literally wasting tax payers’ money while at the same time depriving people the kind of health services it deserves.

If you go to a government hospital (DOH supervised) chances are the needed medicine are not available or you will be given only the initials dosage in order to accommodate other clients. With billions of pesos worth of medicines that are overstocked and slow-moving, its logical to say that DOH is prioritizing purchases where they can earn huge kickbacks without considering its necessity instead of procuring medicines that are highly needed by the majority of its clients.

Needless to say, DOH is one corrupt agency where a mafia exists and nobody dares to lift a finger. In short, everybody is happy. Sadly, its the agency of the government being run by mostly people from the medical field whom we view with utmost respect. Unfortunately, they have mastered in surgically plundering people’s money. Nobility is no longer existent in their profession.

The pandemic is still fresh among our minds. Billions of money were spent on procuring the vaccine which were only left to expire. DOH simply explained that Filipinos are afraid to be inoculated. The simple truth is, many DOH executives have become millionaires.

It’s also the same pandemic that tested the managerial capabilities of DOH. COVID-19 infections has already mellowed yet the hazard fees intended for those medical workers who rendered selfless duties at the hospitals and RHUs were delayed by more than a year.

In short, DOH is more of a health problem than of a health care agency. Its one of the agencies in the government where corruption and mismanagement has mutated to cancer and its beyond cure. What is even more depressing, is the fact that with billions of pesos lost to mismanagement in the last four years or even the last decade, no one was prosecuted and made to answer.

Meanwhile, a good percentage of those in jails serving jail time are people who out of desperation opted to resort to criminal acts just to pay the medical needs of their family members in need.