Health offices under the local government units should refuse to accept medicines that are about to be expired to avoid wastage of government resources.
“If three months before mag-expire, they have the right to reject it,” Dr. Abdullah Dumama Jr., DOH assistant secretary for Visayas and Mindanao, told TIMES.
Dumama said health offices should also make sure they can dispose the medicine with the time frame.
The health officer issued the statement upon learning the findings of Commission of Audit (COA) that “various expired drugs and medicines were found during the ocular inspection of health units of the City Government of Davao” in 2018.
Dumama clarified that DOH do not deliver medicines if it was not included in the procurement plan of the health units.
“LGUs also should have initiatives that if they do not need it they can always return them as soon as possible,” he said adding that the returned medicines will then be distributed to those that need it.
