Economic health may suffer contagion from virus–NEDA

Calamity fund tapped to boost fight vs. A (H1N1)
 
THE continued spread of Influenza A(H1N1) in the Philippines may slow economic growth in the second quarter as Filipino consumers are likely to defer going to the mall to spend, according to pundits.

Amid the Health department’s public warning to avoid crowded places such as the malls, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto has expressed worry over the effect of the virus scare on the country’s economic health.

“What concerns me is you have that A(H1N1) scare, and we’re telling people the effect of that on second quarter GDP [gross domestic product],” Recto said, implying that the spread of the virus may further decrease consumer spending.

Consumer spending

The National Statistical Coordination Board earlier reported that consumer spending in the first quarter slowed down to 0.8 percent from 5.1 percent a year ago, leading the overall economy to barely grow at 0.4 percent from 3.9 percent last year.

Benjamin Diokno, former budget secretary of the Estrada administration, agreed with Recto but said the size and magnitude of impact is hard to predict.

“There’s a concensus that it’s negative. Worst case is reduced tourism and mall activities,” Diokno said.

The UP economics professor, on the other hand, said there would be higher spending in the health sector.

Health dept. warchest

Health Undersecretary Mario Villaverde said in a press conference on Thursday that the Department of Health (DOH) is tapping into the calamity fund to boost its campaign against the swine virus on top of the P150 million regular budget of the department.

“Right now, we access P93.5 million from the calamity fund and around 50 percent to 60 percent has been used up. So far, we have not yet seen a need for additional funding and we have in place drugs that fight the virus,” Villaverde said.

The health official also said the medicines stockpiled by the government can be accessed free from the department. For those who are in the provinces they have to request from hospital through regional offices.

Private hospital accepting patients infected with the virus could also request for the drug in the Health department offices throughout the country, Villaverde said.

344 sick people

Latest department data showed that 344 people have contracted the disease since May 21, but 242 of them have already fully recovered. On Thursday, 33 cases were added to Wednesday’s tally of 311.

With the rapid increase of A(H1N1) cases in the country, the Health department is already mulling designating more testing centers to accommodate more suspected flu victims.

President Arroyo instructed the Health department to ensure free treatment of those who are infected in government hospitals. Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd said treating an infected person would entail expenses of up to P25,000.

Duque said of the newly reported cases in the Philippines, 24 are male, 33 are female, with ages ranging from 1 to 52 years old.

Good news

Health officials said that while the number of A(H1N1) cases being confirmed are growing, which is expected due to extensive contact tracing and reporting, many patients have also recovered from the disease.

All others are also reportedly responding well to treatment and are recovering.

One of those infected was a student of Lourdes School of Manda-luyong City, which has reportedly suspended its classes due to the confirmed case. The school will reopen on June 29.

The Dr. Alejandro Roces High School in Quezon City also suspended its classes for 10 days after one of its senior students got infected with the flu.

In the Dominican College in San Juan City, a junior college student was also reportedly infected.

Health officials and experts continue to note that the flu virus that has entered the Philippines seems to be mild in nature. “So far the country has no reported case of death or severe illness in all of the 344 documented positive cases,” Duque reiterated.

Global update

Even globally, the disease has a low mortality rate at less than one percent.

In its latest report dated June 15, the World Health Organization has reported 35,928 cases and 163 deaths from 76 countries.

Macau confirmed its first case of human swine flu on Thursday, after a Filipino man brought the virus into the southern Chinese city, a spokeswoman said.

 The 27-year-old man was stopped at the former Portuguese colony’s airport with a fever on Wednesday and taken to hospital without entering the wider city, government spokeswoman Elena Au told Agence France-Presse.

 He tested positive for the A(H1N1) virus on Thursday. He was in a stable condition, Au said.

 Health authorities, however, said that the raising of the alert level had nothing to do with the severity of the disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Influenza A(H1N1) a pandemic last week.

 “Phase six indicates how far the pandemic has spread, and is not a sign the disease has grown more dangerous,” Dr. Shin Young-soo, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, clarified.
— Darwin G. Amojelar And Angelo S. Samonte, Reporters with Rommel C. Lontayao and AFP