The Department of Health (DOH) assures that the medical equipment for healthcare workers are in good condition.

"We just have to validate if these deliveries had these deficiencies but as far as DOH is concerned, whatever we were able to deliver to all of our health care workers is in good condition," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, DOH spokesperson, during the ''Laging Handa'' public briefing on Saturday.

"We do not accept those that have damage or with discoloration or with damaged foam. We do not accept such. We do inspections also," she added.

This was the reaction of Vergeire when asked about the admission made by a Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. official in a Senate hearing last Friday that the firm changed the production dates of the face shields procured by the government from 2020 to 2021.

Vergeiere explained that the foam attached in the face shield can have discoloration and "deterioration over time".

"Just like any other medical commodity, the face shield also has what we called shelf life. The face shields that we bought are not for the community. This is medical-grade and this is used by our health care workers. So this face shield has a part that can deteriorate over time," she said.

"It has foam attached there to protect the forehead of our healthcare workers and these foam pulverized over time, others have discoloration. So that is included in the shelf life that we need to assess and determine if it is still okay once it is delivered to us," she added. Robina Asido/DMS