DOH: Defect of UP-made COVID-19 test kits resolved
MANILA, Philippines — The coronavirus testing kits developed by University of the Philippines scientists would be rolled out soon after the problem which caused its recall in May had been fixed, the Department of Health said Friday.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the test kits have already secured a special certification from the Food and Drug Administration.
“Hindi ito ire-recall kung minor ang defect so meron talaga tayong issue, deficiency ng ating locally-produced test kits, they were made aware, we work with them actually at naiayos nila ‘yung deficiency na ‘yun,” Vergeire said in an online media forum.
(This will not be recalled if the defect is minor so there is really an issue with locally-produced test kits. They were made aware, we work with them actually and they have fixed the deficiency.)
In April, the FDA approved the use of coronavirus test kits developed by the UP National Institutes of Health for commercial use.
But the test kits had to be recalled in May after issues were detected by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.
“So ngayon nakapag-submit na sila ng bago, na-validate na ulit ng RITM. Tinutulungan natin sila ngayon para maumpisahan na natin ang paggamit sa piling laboratory dito sa ating bansa. So tayo ay magbibigay na lang ng final na advisories sa ating laboratories and we can already use this UP test kits,” Vergeire said.
(So they have submitted a new one and it has been validated again by the RITM. We are helping them now so we can start the use of the test kits in select laboratories in our country. So we will issue final advisories to our laboratories and we can already use this UP test kits.)
The health official said the agency has also been coordinating with the Department of Science and Technology which funded the test kits and manufacturer Manila Healthtek.
The locally-developed test kit was estimated to cost only P1,320.
To date, 845,434 people have been tested for coronavirus in the country.
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