BONTOC, Mountain Province – More people are now patronizing the Botika ng Barangay (BnB) because of the cheaper and quality medicines they sell.

Mountain Province BnB coordinator Dr. Helen Tichap  said as of the second semester of  this year, there are 107 BnBs established in the different barangays in the province. These are now successfully operating to ensure the availability and accessibility of affordable, safe and effective, quality, essential drugs to all especially to marginalized and hard to reach areas.

Based on the data of the provincial health team, the municipality of Bauko has the highest number of BnB with 18, followed by Bontoc with 14, then Natonin with 13.

The municipality of Sabangan has 11, Besao and Tadian have 10 each, Paracelis with nine, Sagada has eight, and Barlig and Sadanga with seven each.

These BnBs were given free medicines by the national government as seed capital which they sell at a cheaper price.

To refill the BnBs, the operators purchase the needed medicines at the Provincial Health team Office at cost or at the CFB Pharmacy here, an accredited distributor for BnBs or from other accredited pharmacies that offer cheaper prices, Tichap said.

She also discouraged BnBs from buying medicines from fly by night drug agents as they do not have official receipts.

The program aims to improve access to medicines and promote the use of generic drugs as cheaper alternatives to expensive branded medicines.