Food and Drug Administration director-general Nela Charade Puno assured the Philippine Pharmacists Association that FDA agency is supportive of the advocacies of the group in backing government health programs.
Puno made the assurance in the wake of concerns from the PPhA that the recent FDA advisory warning the public against unauthorized immunization programs in drugstores without FDA approval might project a negative view on their efforts to support government health priorities and erode public confidence in their profession.
“As a registered pharmacist myself, I will be the last one to do that. I certainly believe that the profession is a very critical component to provide safe, effective and quality medicines and other related services to the Filipino public,” Puno said.
The FDA issued the advisory based the guidelines on licensing and procedures of the FDA. It said all establishments covered by directive must first secure the appropriate license to operate or authorization from the FDA before engaging in any activity promoting the health product.
“As the regulatory body, FDA has no option but to enforce the AO (administrative order, unless the (Department of Health) will repeal it, “ Puno said.
“We do not oppose community initiated health services. In fact, we are working with the DoH to provide training for pharmacists in the administration of vaccines since this is a critical procedure especially for children,” she said.
“The FDA supports these community based initiatives but we need to ensure that several safeguards are in place before authorizing them to offer an immunization program,” she added.