DOH chief: Deworming pills given to Zamboanga del Norte students not expired

HEALTH Secretary Janette Garin has denied that the deworming tablets given to students in Zamboanga del Norte earlier on Wednesday (July 29) were expired, saying that photos of the medicine shown in some reports online was not the one administered to the children.

One of the photos of the deworming tablet circulating online with brand name Benzol showed that the expiry date was June 2012.

“We don’t use that anymore. That’s why we went full blast on the campaign because every year, we buy [deworming tablets] but utilization is not systematic,” Garin told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Garin added that health officials have already checked with all the schools in Dipolog City that took part in the National Deworming Day and found that none used such brand. “We checked all the schools, they did not use that,” she said.

Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, the DOH spokesperson, said the deworming tablet given to students was Albendazole manufactured by Alpa Laboratories Ltd. from India. Its expiry date is on June 2016.