THE national government is eyeing to regulate the sale of medical oxygen as demand increased along with the surge in cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday, August 10, 2021.
In a television interview, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said this is to ensure that available supply will go to only those who really need oxygen.
"Ibig sabihin, ibebenta lang yan o ipagbibili sa mga taong talagang nangangailangan. So dapat, prescribed siya," she said.
Vergeire said the DOH and the Department of Trade and Industry were coordinating with the manufacturers to increase production.
Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte said he was eyeing fiscal incentives for medical oxygen producers to encourage higher production.
"Itong gumagawa ngayon, bigyan ninyo ng lisensya 'pag tama lang. If everything is in order, bigyan ninyo na kaagad," Duterte told Food and Drug Administration Director General Eric Domingo on Monday evening, August 9.
"'Yung manufacturers, maybe we - I'll talk to Congress, bigyan kayo ng tax relief diyan sa ginagawa ninyo for you are producing a very vital component in the fight against the Covid-19 and the variant Delta," he added.
Domingo said there is no shortage of oxygen tanks in the country as of Monday.
He said the FDA recently issued licenses to 30 medical oxygen manufacturers. There are 81 licensed oxygen manufacturers in the country.
"Iyong 51 po nito ay mga planta talaga po na nagsu-supply lamang sa ospital. 'Yung 30 naman po nito ay mga planta na nandoon mismo sa ospital, nagsu-supply ng ospital at saka noong mga karatig o maliliit na ospital na katabi niya," said Domingo. (VoxPop Philippines)