Ladies and gentlemen, good morning!
First of all, I would like to thank you for virtually joining us in this signing ceremony of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Department of Trade and Industry-Philippine Accreditation Bureau (DTI-PAB) and the Department of Health (DOH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Our presence today, albeit virtual, demonstrates our commitment to work together for more standardized and quality health care. We recognize that the numerous accreditations and recognitions offered by different government agencies tend to overlap, which proves to be difficult for our fellow Filpinos. In order to address this, the PAB Council Members composed of seven government agencies—namely the Departments of Science and Technology (DOST), Health (DOH), Agriculture (DA), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Energy (DOE), and National Defense (DND)—along with the three private sector members, agreed to synchronize the conformity assessment activities of these agencies. Since then, DTI-PAB has been in touch with these Departments to facilitate the initiative.
This memorandum of agreement (MOA) is the realization of that effort, aimed to have more streamlined processes and harmonized requirements between DTI-PAB and agencies under DOH. In particular, these are agencies in the Department involved in conformity assessment activities, particularly its laboratories and the medical laboratories under its jurisdiction.
It our hope that in harmonizing our Departments’ services, reducing redundant processes, and specifying our roles and mandates, this MOA would help our clientele better comply with regulations. Through this Agreement, we hope to further inculcate a mindset of international equivalence, which will result in the availment of accreditations based on international standards. This will enable the public to receive trusted and standardized health care services.
This MOA is also the first agreement to be enforced between DTI-PAB and the members of its council. In this regard, we recognize the hardworking members behind the teams in both our Departments for a remarkable achievement. Today’s feat is one part of DTI and DOH’s goal of improving the quality of public and private laboratory services to ensure timely and accurate results for patient care and outbreak response.
I would like to thank DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III, FDA Director-General Rolando Enrique D. Domingo, and their colleagues in the Department of Health, for their leadership and support in this critical achievement. I would also like to thank my colleagues: Undersecretary Fita M. Aldaba of the Office of the Competitiveness and Innovation Group (CIG), Director James Empeño of the Philippine Accreditation Bureau (PAB), and the PAB Council Secretariat for initiating this agreement between the departments.
I look forward to hearing about the great things that will come out of this new Agreement. Most importantly, I hope it will help our country in saving lives by enabling clinicians to be more confident in basing their treatment on timely and accurate laboratory test results. Finally, I hope that this MoA will pave the way for many partnerships with other regulatory agencies.
Maraming salamat po at mabuhay tayong lahat! ♦
Date of Release: 17 November 2021