Allow LGUs to buy anti-viral meds to fight Covid

CHIEF COVID frontliner Mayor Beng Climaco has asked the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid-19 to allow local governments not only in Zamboanga City, but others in the region as well, to purchase anti-viral medicines which will effectively help in combating the spread of the deadly respiratory disease, especially the Omicron variant.

Climaco made this request during a recent online meeting, saying the purchase of the medicines, particularly molnupiravir and paxloid, can be made either through the Department of Health or local governments. However, the purchase of the drug requires the grant of a compassionate special permit by the Food and Drug Administration. 

She cited the scientific studies made on the drugs which found to be effective in reducing the risk of hospitalization or death of Covid-19 patients. She said the same was also recommended by local medical experts and even the national government is mulling the purchase of the drug. 

The RIATF meeting also discussed the spike of Covid-19 cases in Zamboanga Peninsula and the dangers posed by the Omicron variant, including the government’s mass vaccination program. 

Climaco also brought up the need for the DOH to approve the operation of the local government-run molecular laboratory. DOH Regional Director Dr. Joshua Brillantes and Office of the Civil Defense Regional Director Atty. Ruel Halanes vowed to help expedite the approval of requirements for the operation of the laboratory. 

City Administrator Mike Saavedra said the Climaco administration is working double time for the operation of the local government’s molecular laboratory. He said the City Health Office is also fast-tracking the submission of requirements to the DOH so it can issue the necessary license for the laboratory to operate soon. 

Saavedra, together with City Health Officer Dr. Dulce Miravite and City Engineer Chris Navarro, recently inspected the laboratory in Barangay San Roque. He said the facility is only one of the many legacies of Climaco, who is now on her third and last term, and is running for congresswoman in District 1. 

“The LGU-run molecular lab aims to provide free and expanded Covid-19 testing to residents, but nonetheless, those with symptoms and (people who had) close contacts (with Covid-19) are already given free testing by the LGU since the start of the pandemic (in 2020),” Saavedra said. 

Climaco previously asked the support of the City Council to provide a wider coverage of RT-PCR testing in Zamboanga which cost between P2,000 to P5,000. “It may not be necessarily a free-for-all grant, but at least with a wider coverage than the present free RT-PCR test given to those with Covid-19 symptoms, suspected and positive cases only,” the mayor said. 

She said her proposal for free RT-PCR testing is subject to the availability of test kits and once the local molecular laboratory becomes operational. The mayor even ordered the City Health Office and the City Budget Office to come up with the policy in conformity with the guidelines set by the Department of Health and the Philippine Red Cross. 

But Councilor Pinpin Pareja said council members allied with politician Celso Lobregat slashed the proposed budget of the City Health Office from P180 million to only P80 million and this will greatly impact various health programs of the local government, especially this time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pareja made this revelation during an interview with TV 11 and said the health budget proposed by the local government passed a rigid review, but the opposition nonetheless tinkered with the Executive Budget.

Climaco earlier asked the councilors, especially those with the group of Lobregat and Rep. Mannix Dalipe, to support and approve the budget, instead of “politicizing” the funding intended for the welfare, security and health of the Zamboangueños.

Opposition councilors also reduced the budgets of the different local government departments, including the Office of the City Mayor, only to introduce their own version of the Executive Budget which is beyond their mandate as law makers. (Zamboanga Post)