Drilon, Hontiveros, Kiko urge use of UP-developed COVID-19 test kits

Three senators on Saturday urged the government to use the COVID-19 test kit developed by the University of the Philippines-National Institute for Health as the country aims to test more individuals for the novel coronavirus.

“The country is ramping up COVID-19 testing, but locally manufactured, world-class P1,320 PCR test kits are gathering dust in laboratories due to the inaction of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III," Senate Minority Leader Frank Drilon and Senators Risa Hontiveros and Kiko Pangilinan said in a joint statement.

The test kit, which was first announced by scientist Dr. Raul Destura in February, was earlier approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration.

The senators said its cost is just a fraction of the other test kits from China and Korea.

"Developed by the UP-National Institute for Health and funded by the DoST, the Filipino test kit continues to face hurdles even as imported brands coming from China and Korea, costing more than double at between P4,000 and P8,000, enter the country without difficulty," they said.

"Filipino scientists and doctors have started developing the test kits as early as December last year when reports about the coronavirus surfaced," the lawmakers added.

The test kit has also been proven to perform "better than some of the imported kits," they pointed out.

"The kits have undergone trials and tests, with an interim report showing that they have up to 93.96% sensitivity and up to 98.04% specificity, at a confidence interval of 95%, ranking among the world’s best and performing better than some of the imported kits," the senators said.

They then asked why Duque and the Department of Health (DOH) have not approved the test kit's use and mass production.

"What seems to be holding Secretary Duque and the DoH back from giving the go-signal for the use and mass production of this Filipino-made, quality yet less expensive test kit? May kumikita ba sa mas mahal na imported test kit?" they asked.

The savings to be had in procuring the local test kits may be put to better use in the COVID-19 response, the senators added.

"The savings that could be generated from this kit are crucial in augmenting our COVID-19 response especially at a time when resources are scarce," the statement read.

"Is there someone being favored here at the expense of Filipinos who every day face the dangers of getting infected, or who could already be carriers of the virus but are not yet being tested?" they asked.

"With the number of COVID-19 cases continuously rising, the DoH cannot afford more missteps in handling the situation because lives are at stake," the senators said.

GMA News Online has contacted DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire for comment.

In March, President Rodrigo Duterte said the Department of Science and Technology has allotted P53.2 million for the COVID-19 test kits developed by UP.

The Manila Health Tek Lab, Inc. started production of the test kits in April.

However, these were recalled in May after a "minor problem" was detected during  the validation conducted by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

On July 10, the DOH said the defect was fixed and the rollout of the test kits is just around the corner.

"Ngayon nakapagsubmit na sila ng bago, na-validate na ulit ng RITM. Tinutulungan natin sila ngayon para maumpisahan na natin ang paggamit sa piling laboratoryo dito sa ating bansa," Vergeire said. —With a report from Jamil Santos/KG, GMA News