The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has granted the Department of Health (DOH) around PHP454 million for the procurement of some 173 medical vehicles.

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman approved the issuance of an Authority to Purchase Motor Vehicle (APMV) for the DOH on Oct. 17, the DBM said in a statement Wednesday.

The DBM said the APMV allows the DOH to procure 161 units of land ambulance, two units of mobile primary care facility or mobile clinics, four units of sea ambulance, four units of passenger van, one van serving as patient transport vehicle, and one van functioning as mobile blood donation van.

The approval of the APMV is chargeable against the DOH’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) under the 2024 General Appropriations Act, the DBM added.

The HFEP aims to address healthcare delivery gaps and make the country’s facilities and services more accessible.

The latest APMV covers the second batch of motor vehicles (MVs) to be purchased by the DOH.

On June 11, Pangandaman also approved the issuance of the APMV amounting to PHP387 million for the procurement of the first batch of 141 units of medical vehicles.

Pangandaman said the purchase of motor vehicles would enable the DOH to provide Filipinos with better and more reliable health services.

“The purchasing of additional medical vehicles will surely augment the ongoing structural enhancements of our healthcare system,” she said. (PNA)