CITY OF SAN FERNANDO鈥擜 bill filed in the House of Representatives sought to put in place a network of labs capable of detecting, handling and preventing deadly viruses.
The proposed Philippine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Act seeks to address 鈥渆xisting vulnerabilities鈥� in health and economic systems that were unmasked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
鈥淚 think it is clear that we cannot go back to the way things were before if we want to better respond to similar problems in the future,鈥� said the bill鈥檚 author, Rep. Jose Enrique Garcia.
The Disease Prevention and Control Bureau of the Department of Health (DOH) is currently in charge of promoting biosafety.
Garcia said his bill takes its cue from the evaluation by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the Philippines鈥� Internal Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 and consultations with public health experts. IHR serves as legal framework for global health security, according to WHO in a September 2018 report.
In its explanatory note, the bill said the IHR urges all governments to 鈥渇oster the institutional capacity of the health sector to lead the prevention, detection and response鈥� to public health emergencies and events.
It also said governments must 鈥渇urther optimize the public health emergency preparedness and response action at regional and local levels鈥� by investing in 鈥渁dvocacy, guidance, training and exercising鈥� and improve cooperation in national and sub-national levels.
Garcia said in the bill that the DOH 鈥渦ndoubtedly employed everything within its means to control the spread of the virus.鈥�
But he said there was a need to establish a 鈥渟eparate institution attached to the DOH.鈥� This, he said, is 鈥渃learly the way forward in building the capacity and level of readiness of the government.鈥�
The proposed DOH bureau, he said, would specialize in 鈥渉andling surveillance in support of disease prevention and control鈥� that would be complemented by 鈥渆xemplary expertise, state-of-the-art facilities and laboratories and appropriate resources.鈥�
Public health emergencies that would be addressed 鈥渃ould be chemical, biological, radioactive or nuclear in nature,鈥� the bill said.
According to Garcia, some countries showed greater success in handling COVID-19 cases by setting up an agency 鈥渄edicated solely to disease prevention and monitoring.鈥�
Garcia said the CDC bureau, as an attached agency of the Department of Health, will consist of a 鈥渓aboratory network with facilities possessing proper biosafety accreditation, with the center serving as overseer and regulator.鈥�
With expanded testing capabilities, the government can set up one Biosafety Level (BSL) 4 laboratory, which can handle the deadliest pathogens, and at least five additional BSL 3 facilities, 鈥渟imilar to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).鈥�
鈥淲e need more surveillance and testing centers across the country,鈥� said Garcia.
鈥淚f we can set up our own CDC, then it will be possible for us to have facilities like RITM in at least all of the major islands in the Philippines.鈥�
鈥淟ocal surveillance will be key in early detection, prevention, and response,鈥� Garcia added.