SBG seeks to modernize PH disease response with two new agencies

SENATE Committee on Health chairman, Sen. Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go, is seeking to modernize the country’s response to national health emergencies with the creation of the country’s own ‘Virology Institute’ and a national ‘Center for Disease Control and Prevention.’

“Ibang klaseng giyera ang hinaharap natin ngayon at ang kalaban ay hindi natin nakikita. Kaya kailangan ang disiplina at kooperasyon ng lahat.

“Nakikiusap ako sa mga kasamahan ko sa gobyerno at sa publiko, we are fighting for survival. Laban ito ng bawat mamamayang Pilipino. Dapat magtulungan at magbayanihan tayo ngayon,” said Go.

Go in particular was referring to SB 2155 and SB 2158 that he both filed last two years ago, during the heigh of the COVID-19 pandemic onslaught but which had hardly move in the Senate since then.

SB 2155 calls for the establishment of the ‘Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines’ (VIP). The institute shall help enable the country to develop and manufacture its own vaccines against diseases, such as COVID-19.

It can be recalled that had not for the timely donation of more than 2 million doses of vaccines from China last February 2021, more than a year after the highly-contagious virus arrived in the Philippines, the country would have been left nearly defenseless due to its inability to produce its own anti-viral medicine up to now.

Aside from the VIP, Go also filed, on the same year, SB 2158 to establish the country’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Go said the new agency would be tasked to “serve as the lead agency for developing communicable disease control and prevention initiatives.”

“It will be primarily responsible for controlling the introduction and spread of infectious diseases in the Philippines,” he added.

Presently, the country’s anti-COVID response is being handled by an ‘ad-hoc’ national task force (Inter-Agency Task Force to Combat Emerging Diseases, IATF) composed of an assortment of government departments and agencies, including various health experts, in the absence of a central office to coordinate and oversee the national effort against the pandemic.

“Napapanahon na rin na magkaroon tayo ng mga institusyon na nakatuon ang pansin sa pagtugon ng mga health crisis gaya ng pandemya,” Go said.

“Overcoming COVID-19 must be towards being more prepared for future pandemics and other health crises,” he emphasized.

While still pushing for his two primary bills in the Senate that is already scheduled to end its final session in June, Go in the meantime called on Filipinos to get vaccinated and disciplined.

“Let us remain disciplined, follow health protocols, cooperate with the government and become part of the solution. Together, let us all be catalysts of unity and cooperation in order to fully recover and heal as one resilient nation,” he ended.

“In order to win the war against an unseen enemy, we need discipline and cooperation,” he added.

“Vaccination and continued vigilance are crucial if we want to return to normalcy. Our efforts the past years have already brought us closer to our goal if not for the emergence of new threats, such as the Omicron variant,” he pointed out.

The country has so far received a total of 210.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Around 112.8 million doses have been administered, as of January 7, 2022, Go added.

“Some 52.1 million individuals are fully vaccinated while 57.6 million have received their first dose. In addition to this, around 3.1 million individuals have obtained their booster shots,” he noted.

“Umaapela ako sa mga awtoridad na bilisan pa ang pagbabakuna sa lahat ng mga eligible na sektor, lalo na iyong mga itinuturing na ‘poorest of the poor’, (upang) mabigyan ng kaukulang proteksyon ang ating mga kwalipikadong mamamayan at tuluyang makabalik na tayo sa normal na pamumuhay oras na makamit natin ang herd immunity.”