RP needs to improve pandemic defense

THE PHILIPPINES needs to beef up defenses against a pandemic, a government official said, noting that a collective effort from the government and public is needed in such a crisis.

Benito T. Ramos, executive director of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), made the statement a week after leading an eight-man delegation to the Southeast Asian Regional Multisectoral Pandemic Preparedness and Response Table Top Exercise in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The four-day exercise simulated the spread of a supposedly lethal flu-like pandemic in a fictitious country.

Participants from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were expected to keep the situation under control, even if the virus has crippled the country’s economy.

“When a virus like this strikes, people will not hesitate to abandon their jobs or not go to school for fear of contracting the virus. Thus, critical utilities, such as electricity, water and communications, could go down,” Mr. Ramos said.

“The exercise made us [in the Philippines] realize that we are not adequately prepared for such a situation,” he added. “Even developed countries in the region, such as Singapore, admitted that they are not prepared.”

In line with this realization, Mr. Ramos said government agencies such as the Department of Health (DoH), Department of Education, Department of Agriculture and Department of Social Welfare and Development should be made aware of the possibility of a deadly pandemic before any multi-sectoral approach to deal with the problem can be created.

“At present, only the DoH knows how to handle the situation,” he added. “We need to prepare for a pandemic like this, aside from our multi-sectoral efforts during typhoons, earthquakes and other natural calamities.”

Mr. Ramos said the NDCC is planning to stage a similar exercise to assess agencies’ preparedness to handle a pandemic.

“We hope to hold it this year or early next year. We are still talking about the funding for the project,” he said.

For his part, Lyndon Lee Suy, DoH program manager for emerging and reemerging diseases, said the exercise is a reminder that the health agency should continually build on its capacity to handle pandemic.

“We already have measures in place to deal with the situation. However, this exercise reminds us that we must constantly improve our medical facilities and procedures and build on our experiences in tackling diseases such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome and the influenza A(H1N1) virus,” he said in a phone interview.

Mr. Suy added that the DoH should strengthen its coordination with relevant government agencies in the development of a comprehensive multi-sectoral agency plan against a severe pandemic. — Nathaniel R. Melican, Businessworld