The Department of Health (DoH) yesterday said all personal protective equipment (PPE) that were distributed to health care workers in government hospitals underwent quality and safety standards.
Maria Rosario Vergeire, DoH Officer-In-Charge, said the government agency was a recipient of P1.386 billion worth of PPEs secured by the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management-(PS-DBM) that was flagged by the Commission on Audit due to lack of safety certifications.
The PS-DBM was again the center of the limelight over the purchase out exorbitantly priced laptops with outdated specifications.
“We will not give protective equipment that did not undergo the quality and safety standards… We never distributed PPEs that did not pass our standards,” Vergeire said.
In its 2021 audit report, state auditors said that the supplier of the PPEs where the attached agency procured the items did not submit the necessary Certificate of Medical Device Notification (CMDN).
The CMDN is a certificate issued by the Food and Drug Administration that would have guaranteed the safety and quality of the products.
Vergeire assured the public that all PPEs, composed of N95 medical masks, surgical masks, head covers, gloves, shoe covers and gowns, distributed to health care workers have undergone their quality and safety evaluation.
“Before we accept any deliverables for the agency, it has to pass through this process to ensure the safety and quality of these PPEs and other commodities,” she said.