The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) yesterday called on the need to beef up supply of medical oxygen by at least 50 percent despite an assurance manufacturers currently have enough capacity in the event of a surge in critical cases of the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country.
DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez told reporters in a text message the government is readying the signing by next week of a joint memorandum circular (JMC) that would facilitate the permitting processes within 21 days of applications by importers and fill and finish manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines under emergency use authorization.
Lopez said he has also proposed that government and private hospitals should start importing oxygen apparatus and for the Department of Science and Technology to develop the country’s own oxygen concentrators.
Lopez said he made these proposals to the Inter-agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases at its meeting yesterday.
He said the JMC for the green lane with the Department of Health/Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Anti-Red Tape Authority will ensure shorter processing of permits of importers/manufacturers which can submit advanced information and documents to the FDA prior to official assessment.
This, however, will be subject to post-audit by concerned government agencies particularly the FDA.
“This model will allow an earlier start of operations, possibly before yearend or early next year,” Lopez said.
According to Lopez, having a green lane will also help the Philippines attract manufacturers of vaccines and build its own local production capabilities.
In the future, Lopez said, government can mandate sourcing of vaccines locally through a memorandum of agreement or purchase orders to ensure these products a ready market.
“ We don’t want a repeat of the case of the garments manufacturers which repurposed their lines for personal protective equipment but there was no market,” Lopez said.
In two years, vaccines may be opened to commercial transactions and having the Pandemic Law being pushed by some legislators will mandate local sourcing, Lopez said.
On oxygen, Lopez was assuming a 50-percent increase in demand which entails the increase in the capacity of manufacturers of oxygen to 900 tons per day from the present 604 tons per day.
“We need to ramp up now to cover for the possible surge without waiting for it to happen,” he said.
Lopez said the manufacturers will need to operate at maximum capacity for medical oxygen while capacities for industrial oxygen, if and when necessary, may need to be shifted to the production of medical oxygen.
There are four major manufacturers in the country. Lopez said DTI has recommended to the Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19 for a protocol to be designed for a fast ramp-up of oxygen supply to be triggered if there is a looming serious surge.
DTI is also recommending for government to stock up on oxygen concentrators, that can augment the supply of medical oxygen for critical patients. There are no producers of oxygen concentrators in the country.
“We encourage the strategic stockpiling of these critical equipment such as cylinders, tanks, and concentrators, so we have assured supply at any given point in time. We need to pass a law that will allow government to stockpile and budget for this. Thus, we support the bill on Strategic Stockpiling filed by Philippine Red Cross chairman and Senator Richard Gordon,” Lopez said.
