DOH updating list of essential drugs

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Health (DOH) is updating the list of essential drugs in the Philippine National Formulary (PNF), which was last revised in 2008.

“This is a process for science and legal system to come together and work on,” DOH Undersecretary Kenneth Hartigan-Go said in a recent interview.

There are 600 medicines listed in the current PNF, which serves as a guidebook especially for public health facilities and agencies, for choosing the medicines to procure.

The DOH–National Center for Pharmaceutical Access and Management (NCPAM) is spearheading the review.

In speeding up the review of the PNF, Go said the DOH has decided to limit the size of the formulary committee.

“Now it’s down to five people. In the past we have something like 14. It was an administrative difficulty to get everybody together to make informed scientific decisions. We limited it only to five to be able to get the job done quicker,” he said.

Go did not say if the DOH would come up with a new PNF.

“You look at price, the budget that you have, you look at competing interest and public health. Whether other programs might be better served using that money and also looking at outcomes…outcomes need publication and papers, epidemiologic studies. Sometimes these are not even available,” he said.

NCPAM has asked the public to check its website www.ncpam.doh.gov.ph for the prices of medicines.