Saipan eyed as Pacific Region's drug clearing house

Health Secretary Joseph K. P. Villagomez said yesterday he will ask the US Department of Health and Human Services to consider setting up a pharmaceutical clearing house for the Pacific Region in Saipan so that island nations can have immediate access to their medical supply needs.

Villagomez will raise the issue in the forthcoming Pacific Island Health Officers Association (PIHOA) meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, scheduled for February 8-12.

“I will propose to this agency (DHHS) to set up a pharmaceutical clearing house in the Pacific Region that will address the medical supply needs of island nations like the CNMI. I’d be glad to have it here.

“Maybe they can stock up needed drugs out here so that it becomes more readily available. That will really add lifetime to drugs that we buy,” he said.

Most island nations get the bulk of their medical supplies from the US mainland. US territories and insular areas like the Northern Marianas can buy the drugs at government rate which is lower than its commercial value.

However, it takes time before the goods are shipped. In some instances, the drugs are about to expire before they are delivered. Moreover, island nations must also pay for the expensive shipping cost.

In the case of the CNMI, Villagomez said it takes more than a month before the goods are delivered since it usually come from Maryland.

“We always have to project forward, say, let’s order now for summer. The inventory is sometimes messed up. Not only that, you don’t really use much of the drugs that you order in advance so they just expire,” he said.

The local health secretary expressed hopes the federal government to seriously look into the proposal.