The Manila Health Department (MHD) has opened six large district pharmacies, one for each of its six district locations in the city.
The opening was made a day before the celebration of World Pharmacists Day 2020, held every September 25.
Acting City Health Officer Dr. Arnold M. Pangan, RSW, led the opening of each of the pharmacies — located in each of the district health centers of the MHD — in the six city districts, namely:
District 1 – Vitas Health Center, 2403 Vitas St, 101 Tondo Vitas St, 101 Tondo, Manila, 1012 (Zip code);
District 2 – Atang Dela Rama Health Center, Tirso Cruz St., 175 Zone 15, Manila, 1013;
District 3 – F. Lanuza Health Center, F. Lanuza Bldg, 1533 Alvarez St, Santa Cruz, Manila, 1003;
District 4 – F. Legarda Health Center, 554 Kundiman, Sampaloc, Maynila, 1008;
District 5 – Paco Health Center, 1427, Canonigo Street, Paco, Manila, 1007; and
District 6 – Bacood Health Center, 406 Lakas, Santa Mesa, Manila, 1016.
Pangan said the goal of opening the large pharmacies is to decentralize the distribution of the medicines, expedite their release, and avoid having these medicines expire.
The medicines are given for free to the city’s residents and to the city government employees.
The medicines originally come from the Department of Health (DOH) or are donated by private organizations.
The medicines are delivered to the DOH, and samples are collected by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for testing. After approval, these are then distributed to the regional offices of the DOH and to the local government units, which will allocate to their respective local health facilities.
World Pharmacist Day aims to promote awareness about the importance and role of a pharmacist, to showcase them and their positive effects on a nation’s health.
World Pharmacist Day was created by the International Pharmaceutical Federation Council at the World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Istanbul, Turkey in 2009.