THE Department of Health (DOH) said government’s supply of first line anti-tuberculosis drugs (FLDs) for this year is no longer sufficient for tuberculosis (TB) patients undergoing treatment.
In an advisory to DOH regional directors, the department said total FLD stocks in the national and regional warehouses is good for only 189,647 patients up to December 2024.
“This is still short of the remaining 365,998 adult patients that we aim to treat for the remainder of the year,” it said.
The DOH said the shortage is global. It said international partners, namely, Global Fund, Stop TB Partnership, United States Agency for International Development, and World Health Organization, earlier noted a global scarcity in the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in rifampicin-based drugs.
Add to this, it said, is the unsuccessful procurement process conducted by the DOH’s Disease Prevention and Control Bureau of FLDs in October 2023 and again in December 2023. The DOH said potential bidders have cited the fluctuating dollar exchange rate, scarcity of the API in rifampicin-based drugs, and increased freight costs as reasons for backing out.
“Given these two unsuccessful procurements, ongoing preparations for another bidding are already underway. And, should this succeed, the earliest that we can have the items is January 2025,” said the DOH.
The DOH asked local government units as well as the private sector to conduct their own procurement of anti-TB drugs to ensure the continuity of treatment of their TB patients.
It appealed to private pharmacies, drugstore owners/retailers, and drug manufacturers to aid the government with their available supplies at an affordable cost.
It also called for the continuous information drive on the importance of TB prevention, and completing TB treatment
