Cuenco wants city to allot more medicine for brgys

CEBU, Philippines – Instead of allotting more money for the City's Hospitalization Assistance and Medicine Program (CHAMP), Councilor Ronald Cuenco wants the city to buy more medicines to be placed in the different barangay health centers to make free medicines more accessible to the people.

Cuenco, who heads the committee on health and hospital services, said that his proposal is meant to hasten the release of medicines because it is already a burden to the residents if they have to go to the City Hall to apply and then proceed to the pharmacy to claim their benefits.

"Ang ako lang unta is, imbes muadto pa silag botika para mukuha og tambal, diretso na, ibutang nato sa health center. Atong i-hasten ang pag-release aron dili additional burden sa mga pasyente kay muplete pa para muadto diri sa city hall," he explained.

The reason why there is an increasing number of residents availing the CHAMP is the depleted supplies in the health centers, Cuenco said.

Usually, residents go first to the barangay health center where medicines are given for free. But when the medicine is not available in the center, that will be the time they go to the City Hall to avail of the medical assistance program of the mayor.

"I have talked with Fe Cabugao (City Health Department chief), n'ya nahurot na g'yud ang tambal nato sa health centers. So nagsalig karon ang atong constituents sa CHAMP," Cuenco said.

The councilor assured he will find a way so medicines that are brought to the barangay health centers will be properly liquidated just like how the CHAMP works under the officer of the mayor.

He said he will talk with the Commission on Audit and the city accountant to discuss how they can make sure that the medicines to be coursed through the barangay health centers will have proper inventory and proper releasing procedure to discourage abuse.

Initially, Cuenco will ask for a P10 million budget to be included in the next supplemental budget (SB) after SB 4 for the purchase of more medicines.

"Since human naman ang SB 4, I asked Mayor Rama and councilor Jose Daluz, chairman of the committee on budget and finance, to find another source so we can buy medicines for the health centers," Cuenco said.

His original plan was to get a share from the P30 million budget for the city's medical assistance proposed under SB 4.

But he learned that P26 million of the proposed budget was already set aside to be paid for the previous purchases and only P4 million is left which he said definitely will not be enough to sustain the program for months since the city is already spending around P700,000 a day for medicines alone.

Daluz said that the city owes Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center P7 million for hospital bills.

"Ang nakaayo lang sa ato is there are mga drugstores who are willing to provide us medicines on credit," Cuenco said. (THE FREEMAN)