Acting Health Secretary Edwin Mercado said on Wednesday that the agency has sufficient stocks of leptospirosis medicine to meet demand, if needed, to address the flood-borne illness.
At a congressional budget hearing, Mercado said the Department of Health (DOH) has around 3.1 million pills stored at its main warehouse that could be distributed to flooded communities.
‘We have at least 3.1 million capsules still in the central warehouse, which is enough buffer for the rest of the year,’ he told lawmakers.
He did not specify the medicine he was referring to, although he responded to a question asked by 4K Partylist Rep. Iris Montes, who asked if the DOH had procured ‘prophylaxis’ treatment for leptospirosis.
Post-exposure treatment for those who wade through floodwaters involves doxycycline, a pill now under scrutiny amid supply concerns after torrential rains brought by monsoon rains left several areas flooded.
In mid-August, the University of Santo Tomas Hospital disputed reports that its doxycycline supply was depleted. Last week, Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko’ Moreno Domagoso said the capital still has sufficient stocks of the pill despite heavy rains that inundated the flood-prone city.
The DOH plans to procure 4.88 million doxycycline pills for next year, which will be distributed to health centers nationwide, Mercado said