Duterte set to OK price cap on COVID-19 tests

MANILA, Philippines, November 1 ------ President Duterte is ready to sign an executive order that will set a ceiling on the cost of swab tests and other laboratory examinations for the coronavirus disease 2019, his spokesman said. “We are waiting for the decision of the President and all the staff work. So it’s a matter of time... I think any time, the President will sign his executive order,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said. His statement confirmed earlier reports that the memo was pending in the Office of the Executive Secretary.

Roque reiterated that there are many government institutions and private health offices that offer affordable COVID-19 testing services. “In Metro Manila, there are places one could avail of a cheap PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test, like the Philippine Children’s Medical Center, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine Lung Center, Perpetual Help Medical Center,” he said in Filipino. Roque added that there are between 1,500 and 2,000 laboratories accredited to conduct PCR tests nationwide.

Earlier, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire noted the varying prices of swab tests for COVID-19 throughout the country. This prompted the Department of Health (DOH) to recommend to the President the issuance of an executive order setting a price ceiling to regulate how much is charged for the test. Meanwhile, the DOH clarified that results of the COVID-19 tests are not being released in the government’s freedom of information (FOI) portal. “This is to inform the public that test results may not be requested from and released through the FOI portal as this constitutes a violation of the Data Privacy Act,” read the DOH advisory.

It said the release of swab results is prohibited because it contains personal information of the patients that are not for public consumption.

Vietnam’s donation

Vietnam donated $50,000 (about P2.42 million) worth of COVID-19 reverse transcription PCR test kits with accompanying extraction kits to the Philippines. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Health Undersecretary Carolina Taino received the donation from Vietnamese Ambassador Hoang Huy Chung at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) office last Wednesday.

The test kits have since been delivered to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). Describing the donation as a manifestation of the enduring close friendship between the Philippines and Vietnam, Chung assured Locsin of the Vietnamese government’s support for the Philippines’ ongoing efforts in fighting COVID-19, as well as in promoting and protecting the welfare of the Filipino people. The donation, which comes ahead of the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the Philippines-Vietnam Strategic Partnership on Nov. 17, 2020, was shipped with support from Vietnamese entrepreneur Johnathan Hanh Nguyen and the Philippine embassy in Hanoi.

Vietnam is making similar donations to other ASEAN member states.

Source: philstar.com