DOH has overstocked drugs, medicines worth P18 billion — COA

The Department of Health (DOH) has accumulated P18.4 billion worth of overstocked drugs and medicines yet to be distributed in 2018, the Commission on Audit (COA) said. 

Based on the annual audit report on DOH, state auditors found that the amount of overstocked drugs and medicines has not only increased to P18.4 billion but also increased for the third straight year in 2018.

From P10 billion in 2015, the amount of overstocked drugs and medicines increased to P11.3 billion in 2016; P16 billion in 2017; and, P18.4 billion in 2018.

“The abovementioned scenario of constantly increasing balance of Drugs and Medicines for Distribution on the DOH warehouses precluded the immediate provision of quality health service to the intended beneficiaries of the different DOH Health Programs,” state auditors said.

“It is also reflective of ineffective inventory management of the Agency and also defies World Health Organization recommended storage level based on average time of distribution of six to nine months,” COA added.

COA traced the overstocking to poor procurement planning of the Procurement and Supply Chain Management Team and the DOH programs in the preparation of their purchase requests such as non-consideration and non-compliance of the two months' inventory requirements.

Likewise, COA’s inquiry with the Logistics Management Division revealed that the procurement for the needed inventories of DOH are done based on yearly requirements with deliveries done on an installment basis, without consideration of the two month requirement of the 2018 Budget Act.

“As a result, such practices lead to the non-consideration of existing similar inventories on hand and inevitable deliveries and acceptance of additional similar inventories even though the delivery of the previous tranches or purchases are yet to be distributed,” state auditors said.

In addition, COA found out that DOH is not monitoring and implementing reorder points—the level of inventory that triggers an action to replenish that particular inventory stock, and different DOH programs are procuring similar medicines without consideration to the current stocks in the warehouses.

“The current management practice is that, they keep on procuring similar drugs already on stock, without considering usage and distribution,” COA said. —LDF, GMA News