Persons with disabilities who need medicines for their mental health conditions may avail medicines from the Quezon City government.
“Sa mga Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) na nangangailangan ng maintenance medicine para sa kanilang mental health conditions, dalhin ang reseta sa pinakamalapit na Health Center sa inyong Barangay upang makakuha ng gamot,” the local government unit said.
Here is the list of medicines that can be availed:
- Clozapine 100 mg (milligrams) tablets
- Biperiden 2 mg tablets
- Chlorpromazine 100 mg tablets
- Lithium Carbonate 450 mg tablets
- Sertraline 50 mg tablets
- Escitalopram Oxalate 10 mg tablets
- Quetiapine 200 mg tablets
- Valproic acid tablets
Aside from free medicines, QC government informed the public that Quezon City General Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry is also offering affordable medical consultation for P40.
Patients interested to avail the consultation could message the hospital’s Facebook page from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday.
Accessible mental healthcare
Some Filipinos lauded the LGU’s program that makes mental healthcare services accessible to the public given the expensive cost of medicine.
“As someone diagnosed with a mental illness, we welcome and commend this. The project is a step towards accessible mental healthcare. I hope we support more and expand the services. Thank you, QC!” an online user wrote.
“Malaking bagay po ito sa mga kapwa PWD ko,” a Facebook user said.
Aside from mental health condition, some Filipinos are hopeful that the LGU would cover meds for epileptic and seizures.
“Sana next po ‘yung anti epileptic/anti seizure na phenobarbital at oxcarbazepine,” a Facebook user said.
“Sana po next ‘yung leviteracitam po para sa seizure,” another commented with praying emojis.
Some also hoped that other LGUs would launch a similar initiative.
“Promise laking tulong talaga as someone na umiinom dati ng Quetiapine ‘di biro yung gastos kada linggo for meds,” an online user said.
In a commercial pharmacy, Quetiapine 200 mg tablet costs P67.63 to P259.82.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health‘s website shows that the public can also purchase the same medicine for a cheaper price ranging from P20 to P70 at some government hospitals.
The drug reference index list only includes eight government health facilities.
Other medicines for mental health conditions are also limited to a few state health facilities making cheaper medicine inaccessible.
According to DOH, “the drug price connection index lists the ceiling prices of essential medicines for government bidding and procurement set by the DOH for all national and local government health facilities and government agencies.”
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Disclosure: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte is a shareholder of Philstar Global Corp., which operates digital news outlet Interaksyon. This article was produced following editorial guidelines.
