Tuesday, October 07, 2008 Gov’t to tackle melamine scare
THE government will discuss on Tuesday the melamine scare in milk.
Trade Secretary Peter Favila said the trade and health departments would be reporting during the Cabinet meeting in Malacañang on melamine scare, including the measures that have already been adopted and still being done to address the problem.
He said the call to test cosmetic products from China would also be discussed.
He added that proposal to automatically ban items that had been previously prohibited by other countries may also be “touched” during the report of the Department of Health (DOH).
Favila said after the Cabinet meeting, he would seek an audience with the Chinese Embassy to discuss possible aid that could be extended to private groups or exporters that have lost profit after importing contaminated milk and other food products from China without their knowledge.
He said the businessmen asked the government through the DOH to intervene on their behalf as they had acquired the products in good faith. “They’re saying... we had the shipment all in good faith, little did we know or none of us even knew of its contamination.”
The Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) ordered a temporary ban on the sale of milk products from China after several babies in China developed kidney problems after taking melamine-laced milk.
Meanwhile, in a bid to weed out fraudulent drug test results, the DOH has put in place a new data base system called Integrated Drug Testing Operations and Management of Information System (Idtomis).
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the new data base system will be simultaneously implemented all over the country starting Tuesday.
“We are confident this new system will give back credibility to the government’s drug-testing activities that have been marred in the past by anomalous and unprofessional transactions. We are certain that it will improve drug-testing operations nationwide,” he said.
Compared to the old system, Duque said this improved system has a new safety features that will require a biometric fingerprint scanning to assure identity of the drug testing clients and that no misinterpretation will occur.
Non-appearances will also be prevented by this new requirement.
Aside from the software, Duque said technical analysts such as medical technologists, chemists, and pharmacists will also be inside the laboratories during the testing to ensure that the examinations performed are correct.
“Gone are the days when drug tests can easily be manipulated by unscrupulous and devious individuals who are out there to make a buck out of this very important procedure that will expose drug users,” he stressed.
The health chief added that the DOH has partner agencies like the Land Transportation Office (LTO), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and others that can easily verify authenticity of drug test certificates by simply accessing the Idtomis website.
“So, there is really no way now that drug test results will be tampered. All bases are covered,” Duque quipped. (JMR/MSN/Sunnex)
