The Commission on Audit (CoA) has called out the Quezon City local government after two of its state hospitals failed to provide free drugs and medicines to their poor constituents, in violation of the law.

In its 2023 report, the CoA found that the Rosario Maclang Belmonte General Hospital (RMBGH) and Novaliches District Hospital (NDH), which are Level 2 and Level 1 hospitals, respectively, failed to serve drugs and medicines to their patients in need of them.

Article 8, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution states that healthcare, among others, shall be made available to all the people at affordable cost. It thus mandates the state to provide free medical care to paupers or underprivileged, sick, elderly, disabled, women and children.

State auditors, however, discovered that drugs and medicines remained unfilled and unserved to patients due to the unavailability of inventory stocks in RMBGH and NDH, amounting to P2.294 million and P1.203 million, respectively.

“Thus, hindering the [QC’s] ability to provide medical care through access to sufficient and continuous supply of safe and effective medicines,” the auditing body stated.

The audit team found that the quantity and costs of the drugs and medicines were already included in the Project Procurement Management Plan of both hospitals in 2023.

However, the procurement only took place on 24 April of the same year, and the delivery of the medicines started on 19 June.

The QC local government told auditors that despite its best efforts to procure sufficient medication supplies, the primary reason for the unfilled prescriptions is the limited resources.

“Budget allocations are not in keeping with the growing healthcare demands. Moreover, sudden increases in patient numbers or unexpected outbreaks of diseases can spike demand for certain medications, overwhelming existing supplies,” the audit report read.