The Commission on Audit (CoA) has flagged the Department of Health (DoH) over P11.2 billion worth of expired drugs and medicines, including 7,035,161 vials of Covid-19 vaccines in 2023.

Based on the audit report, medicines and medical supplies amounting to P11,186,368,902.47 were unutilized before the end of their shelf life in various DoH offices and warehouses.

“In addition, inventories nearing expiration or those with less than one-year shelf life amounting to a total of P65,444,524.35 were also found unutilized and undistributed in DOH offices and health facilities as of December 31, 2023,” state auditors said.

According to CoA, the irregularities were a result of “inadequate procurement planning, and poor distribution and monitoring systems,” which led to the wastage of government resources.

The items that had expired included 24,539 bags of donated dialysis solution and “damaged” Covid-19 vaccines labeled as “quarantine,” among others.

The auditing body pointed out that this exposed the DoH’s inability to safeguard, manage, and utilize government funds economically and effectively, in violation of Section 2 of Presidential Decree No. 1445 or the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines.

“Further, this condition had entailed storage and manpower costs, which could have aided the government in rendering other priority services,” it said.

The DoH explained that the wastage of Covid-19 vaccines was caused by the unwillingness of the priority group to receive booster shots, particularly senior citizens, as well as the reluctance of local government units and health facilities to accept the vaccines due to a lack of cold room storage and doubts about whether they could consume the doses before expiration.

A DoH warehouse manager in Nonpareil told state auditors that they were waiting for further instructions from the end-user on what to do with the vaccines. Meanwhile, Supply Chain Management Service officers said they had already prepared the report for the disposal of the vaccines in accordance with CoA rules and regulations.

Nevertheless, the DoH assured CoA that proactive measures were being implemented in the procurement, storage, and inventory of vaccines.