Mixing health and politics
health projects. Of the P12 billion, P3.5 billion was realigned for the Department of Health (DoH)’s vaccination program using Dengvaxia—a vaccine started in April 2016, or a month before the presidential elections.
Less than a month after the Paris meetings and before 2015 ended, DBM had released a SARO for P3.5 billion, which was transferred to the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC is a GOCC allowed to hold on to funding the ruling from the Supreme Court in February 2015 re DAP. It was rushed and made to appear legal.
PCMC received P3 billion from these funds and used the money to buy Dengvaxia. This amount is suspicious - lion euros (P1 billion) in Dengvaxia made this even more irregular is that all these procurement steps were taken before Dengvaxia was discussed by the Formulary Executive Council (FEC). All drugs require FEC approval before the government can procure them, and the Aquino government procured Dengvaxia without one, as the FEC approval (exemption) was issued after the fact.
does not make public the Dengvaxia’s price, claiming that this is subject to negotiations with buyers. That of course table pay-offs and side deals.
Was Dengvaxia overpriced? The purchase order for Dengvaxia was for one million dosages at a cost of P3 billion, which means P3,000 per dosage. The Brazilian government reported that it bought its Dengvaxia at $37 per dosage, or P1,871. An Indian company though has put out an advertisement that prices its Dengvaxia at the equivalent of P9 per dose.
euros (P1 billion) in sales, where is the P2 billion?
So, who really arranged the meeting between Sanofi-Pasteur officials and the then Health Secretary Janette L. Garin, M.D. on June 8, 2015 in a hotel in Makati? A former colleague of Garin did. In that meeting, Sanofi- Pasteur cost/pricing for the Philippines.
As a licensed medical technologist and a licensed M.D., Garin has a Mercury Drug Store franchise in Iloilo City proper and Garin Drugstore that engages in the marketing, distribution of medicines and medical supplies located in Guimbal, Iloilo. According to sources, Garin Drug Store is licensed to operate as a retailer, wholesaler and trader of generic or cheap medicines, branded medicines and medical supplies.
This is where things become more interesting. Three legislators stood out in moving legislation for “Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008,” or Republic Act 9502, through various congresses. Two are silent Multi-Facility Injectable Plant (Company A) in the country. One of the two used to be counsel to Company A. The same is owned by another legislator and is the biggest trading house of human pharmaceutical injections in the Philippines representing 50 foreign manufacturers worldwide. The same legislator owns a drug distribution company (Company - ers of human pharmaceutical injection to Company B, like anti-rabies, anti-venom, anti-TB etc. but not dengue vaccine because of its high price. While Zuellig is the supplier of branded medicines to the drug company such as Genacol, Centum, Tylenol, Norvasc, Bisacodyle Dulcolax, Dimetapp, Incremin, Imoduim Ventolin, Bengay, etc. The main sources of income of Company A are cheap medicines (paracetamol, cotrimoxazole or bactrim forte, mefenamic acid, dolfenal, etc.) from Bombay, India; Pakistan; and China.
Garin also had the heftiest paycheck in 2015 among the members of the cabinet of former President Aquino, a report of the Commission on Audit (COA) re on Salaries and Allowances,’ or ROSA, of government executives, Garin took home a total of P2.521 million in 2015, which included: P1.08 million as basic salary as DoH secretary; P408,037.31 allowances; P235,000 bonuses/incentives; P348,000 discretionary funds, and P24,000 additional compensation/honorarium. COA said Garin also received P425,750.91 as chairman of the board of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth). The report noted that Garin also sat in concurrent capacity as chair of the governing boards of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC), Philippine Heart Center (PHC), Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), and Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC), and as a trustee of the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP).
Though Garin is LP, her husband, the district of Iloilo, sided with PRRD in 2016, at the last minute. He heads PDP Laban in the province. According to Palace insiders, Congressman Garin Jr., is the president’s chosen gubernatorial bet for the province in the coming 2019 election. A collective ouch there!
Moral of the story: never appoint a politician to the health portfolio. The mix is the deadliest for the county. Deadlier than the placebo effect of a Dengvaxia.