DOH: ‘We did not procure remdesivir’
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday said it did not procure the drug remdesivir because it is not a registered drug, but left it up to hospitals to use their funds in availing themselves of possible remedies to COVID-19.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque also defended the use of remdesivir, the drug administered on him when he tested positive for the coronavirus last month.
Anakalusugan Rep. Michael Defensor and Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza warned the DOH that its officials could be charged with graft for its P1-billion purchase of remdesivir, despite the World Health Organization’s (WHO) rejecting the drug for COVID-19 treatment.
“We have no procurement of remdesivir precisely because it has no CPR (certificate of product registration),” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online press conference on Monday.
“We gave funds to the hospitals when cases were increasing so they can … procure whatever investigational drugs there are in the market. If in case they used remdesivir, that is through the compassionate use special permit,” she said.
Roque said the WHO’s approval was not a condition for its use in the country.
“What is important is the [emergency use authorization] or compassionate use permit issued by the Food and Drug Administration,” he said.
