Solons berate DOH for saying testing asymptomatics for COVID-19 not cost-effective

Lawmakers on Wednesday berated the Department of Health (DOH) for insisting that testing asymptomatic vulnerable individuals for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not cost-effective and not rational.

During the virtual hearing of the Health and COVID-19 Response Cluster of the House Defeat COVID-19 committee, Marikina City Representative Stella Quimbo pointed out that the benefits of conducting mass testing outweighs its cost to the government.

"A cost-benefit analysis informs a budget decision but a budget itself is never a parameter in a cost benefit analysis. In other words, if there is an activity like mass testing which is not very costly but the benefits are huge, then you find the budget for that. 'Yun ang relasyon ng cost benefit at budget," Quimbo, an economist, said.

"So it is never an excuse to say walang budget, therefore we will not do it," she added.

In a press briefing earlier in the day, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire defended the government’s policy of not testing asymptomatic people with no exposure to COVID-19 patients, pointing out that 85% of transmission came from symptomatic ones.

“85% of those who transmitted the disease were symptomatic. Kaya po pinaglalaban namin na huwag i-test ang walang symptoms kasi it would give a false sense of security,” she said.

“Kahit po RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) ang gamitin, it would still miss one-third of the time. Hindi rin siya perfect. Hindi sila 100%. Kaya kung ite-test ang asymptomatic [na walang COVID-19 exposure], it is not cost effective and it is not rational,” Vergeire added.

But Quimbo said that by not conducting mass testing for asymptomatics, the government will not have an idea of how many of them have actually been transmitting infection.

"What now is the cost of not testing? The cost of not testing is not knowing the asymptomatics. That’s the cost," she said.

"Ipagpalagay na natin na 30% [ang asymptomatic incidence sa Pilipinas]. The cost of not doing mass testing is having 30% asymptomatics not known. In other words, palakad-lakad ang 30% na 'yan, umuubo-ubo at nagpapasa-pasa ng droplets, nakakahawa," she added.

For her part, Iloilo Representative Janette Garin said that the reason why RT-PCR may not be as effective is probably because there are poorly-swabbed samples.

She pointed out that samples must be tested within 24 hours from extraction.

"Kaya siya hindi naging cost-effective, nagkaroon kasi ng mass swabbing and mega swabbing centers. We all now that in science, testing the samples should be within 24 hours," Garin said.

"Kung sinasabi ng inyong mga eksperto at DOH na merong one-third false negative 'yung ating PCR test, that simply means all the PCR testing in the Philippines do not qualify with WHO standards," she added.

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate, in a separate press briefing, echoed Quimbo's remarks that conducting mass testing even for asymptomatic vulnerables should not be a matter of budget.

"Hindi usapin ng pondo ito. Dahil kung pondo lang, alam natin na may pagkukunan ng pondo ang pamahalaan kung i-prioritize niya ang pag-test nang maramihan," he said.

"Hindi puwedeng kulong nang kulong na lang tayo at hindi pa rin natin alam kung ilan na ang positive na," he added.

Vergeire, who also attended the virtual House hearing, said they would take note of Garin's statements and respond after the department has discussed them internally. 

She added that this issue is not so much about budget but more on the capacity of the department to conduct mass testing.

"We have our hospitals which are waiting for the lab results of their patients for 10 to 14 days. We have our communities waiting also for the result of these laboratories that were done among their constituents for a number of days already. Ang sinasabi lang po namin, tayo po ay nagpa-prioritize para akma tayo doon sa kapasidad ng sistema natin," she said.

"Kami rin po sa kagawaran ay gusto namin ang ganitong klase na ma-test natin na mas marami but based from our capacity right now, ito po 'yung ating realidad," Vergeire added.

As of May 19, a total of 12,942 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the Philippines, with 837 deaths and 2,843 recoveries. —KG, GMA News