MMDA to get P3-M worth of medicines from PHAP Cares

MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino

MANILA, Philippines—A pharmaceutical organization will donate P3 million-worth of medicines for the public health program of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority for the use of Metro Manila residents during disasters and other emergencies.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said Monday that a memorandum of agreement with Thomas Weigold, president of the PHAP Cares Foundation of the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), has been signed, stating that PHAP Cares will donate P1-million worth of medicines to MMDA every year until 2016.

Tolentino said the three-year medicine donation program will be used for medical needs of disaster victims, as well as that of the agency’s first responders and service providers.

The medicines can also be used in community outreach programs of the MMDA, he added.

“This is a big blessing to the MMDA. Any assistance from the private sector will go a long way in promoting a healthier Metro Manila. We thank PHAP Cares for choosing MMDA as its partner in this vital undertaking,” he said.

Tolentino said a donation tracking system will be formulated to ensure that the medicines will reach its intended beneficiaries.

“We will be submitting quarterly report to PHAP detailing how the medicines were used. We are transparent enough to let them scan our records,” he said.

PHAP, for its part, said the partnership with the MMDA is in recognition of the enormous threat disasters pose to the lives and health of the residents of Metro Manila.

“This public-private partnership is part of our disaster risk reduction efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change on the health of the people. We at PHAP Cares also join the MMDA in caring for the agency’s responders who often risk their lives for others,” Weigold said.