More than 290,000 people have benefited from the free medicines program of the city government of Makati in the last eight months, city health officials announced on Friday.
Makati Health Department chief Bernard Sese said from January to August, the program’s authorized distributor, Planet Drugstore, has dispensed free medicines, vitamins and other pharmaceutical products to a total of 294,412 patients through its eight outlets which cater to their respective clusters.
During the period, the city government spent around P358.7 million for the program dubbed as Libreng Gamot Para sa Mamamayan, which has benefited active members of the Makati Health Program (Yellow Card) and their qualified dependents.
These include Ospital ng Makati patients, city government employees, selected Makati-based national government personnel, and residents from the 33 barangays of the city.
The program covers medicines for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardio-vascular diseases, dyslipidemia, enlarged prostate, gout, cough and colds, sexually transmitted infections, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, seizure disorder, allergy, ulcer, vertigo, gastro-intestinal problems, and more. It also provides free multivitamins for children, adults and pregnant patients, as well as oral and injectable contraceptives.
Under the program, senior citizens aged 70 and above are entitled to receive the full dose of their monthly prescription of maintenance medicines. For August alone, the Makati Action Center has made door-to-door deliveries of medicines worth around P7.8 million to over 4,300 recipients. These include seniors in the said age group and bed-ridden beneficiaries identified by the MHD for the special service.
More than free medicines and vitamins, Yellow Card beneficiaries enjoy free outpatient consultations and subsidized hospitalization for emergency and in-patient care at the city-run Ospital ng Makati. Primary health care is also being provided by the city’s 26 barangay health centers, while its three lying-in clinics provide subsidized services for normal deliveries.
The city government has increased this year’s budget for its Free Medicines Program from P600 million to P900 million to help defray the cost of medications. The project first started in 2013 with an initial budget of P59 million.
For the convenience of patients, Planet Drugstore has eight outlets in strategic locations.
The outlet at the ground floor of Makati City Hall (Old Building) covers patients from the Employee’s Clinic, Social Hygiene Clinic, and Dental Clinic at City Hall, and residents checked up at the health centers of Barangays Valenzuela, Sta. Cruz, Poblacion, Olympia, and Guadalupe Viejo. It also serves Yellow Card members from the six villages – Bel-Air, Dasmariñas, Forbes, Magallanes, San Lorenzo and Urdaneta – who can present prescriptions obtained from their respective barangay health clinics.
The outlet at Carmona Health Center caters to its patients as well as to patients from other health centers under Cluster 2, namely, Kasilawan, Tejeros, and Singkamas.
For Cluster 3, Bangkal Health Center houses the pharmacy outlet, which also caters to patients from Bangkal Lying-in Clinic, Pio del Pilar Puericulture Center, Pio del Pilar Rural Health Unit, and San Isidro Health Center.
The outlet at Palanan Health Center caters to its own patients and other health centers under Cluster 4, which include La Paz and San Antonio. Patients availing themselves of the Palanan 24/7 services are also served by the said outlet.
The outlet at Pitogo Health Center covers patients from Cluster 5, which includes the health centers of Pitogo, Guadalupe Nuevo, Cembo, Pinagkaisahan, and South Cembo, as well as Guadalupe Nuevo Lying-in Clinic.
Cluster 7 is being served by the outlet at Ospital ng Makati (OsMak) in Pembo, and covers OsMak employees and staff and Osmak outpatients, including patients seen at the Emergency Room but were not admitted, and discharged patients.
The eighth outlet is located in Rizal Health Center, and caters to patients from the health centers of Rizal and Pembo.
Qualified beneficiaries from disputed barangays Northside and Southside may avail themselves of free medicines, provided that they undergo medical check-up and obtain prescriptions from authorized health centers.
Northside residents may go to either Cembo or West Rembo health centers, while Southside residents may go to either Pembo or Rizal health centers.