The Makati City government has launched a P59-million program for the distribution of free medicine to its residents.
Under the program, city hall employees and residents who are holders of the yellow Makati Health Plus card, white senior citizen’s card or persons with disability (PWD) card are qualified to receive free medicine.
In a statement, Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. said the city government had grouped the 26 health centers and its employees’ clinic into six clusters, each with a designated pharmacy outlet.
Under the program’s guidelines, these pharmacies will honor only the medical prescriptions issued by authorized personnel from the health centers in their respective clusters.
To qualify, patients must present at the designated pharmacy the prescription, together with their yellow card, senior citizen’s card, PWD card or employee’s identification card. Representatives of these patients must also present a valid ID card with picture and a letter of authorization from the patient.
Cluster 1 is composed of the employees’ clinic, social hygiene clinic, dental clinic and the health centers of Barangays Valenzuela, Sta. Cruz, Poblacion, Olympia and Guadalupe Viejo. Qualified patients from these centers can get their prescribed medicine for free at Planet Drugstore which is located at the ground floor of the old city hall.
Cluster 2 consists of the health centers of Barangays Kasilawan, Carmona, Tejeros and Singkamas. Their pharmacy outlet will be at Carmona Health Center.
Cluster 3 covers the Bangkal Health Center, Bangkal lying-in clinic, Pio del Pilar Puericulture Center and Pio del Pilar RHU and San Isidro Health Center. Their pharmacy outlet will be at the Bangkal Health Center.
Cluster 4, composed of the Palanan Health Center, La Paz Health Center and San Antonio Health Center, will be served by the Palanan Health Center pharmacy.
Cluster 5, consisting of the health centers of Barangays Guadalupe Nuevo, Cembo, Pinagkaisahan, Pitogo and South Cembo and the Guadalupe lying-in clinic, will be served by the Pitogo Health Center pharmacy.
Cluster 6, consisting of East Rembo Health Center, East Rembo lying-in clinic, West Rembo Health Center, Comembo Health Center, Pembo Health Center and Rizal Health Center will be served by the Ospital ng Makati pharmacy in Pembo.
To prevent residents from abusing the program, the city government has put in place several measures, including setting monthly limits for each type of medicine per patient, Binay said. Jaymee T. Gamil