Phl wants zero Ebola toll

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Health (DOH) is targeting zero Ebola casualties despite doubts on the government’s capability to prevent the spread of the disease.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona said yesterday the DOH is aware that many people doubt the government’s capability to prevent the spread of Ebola in the country.

But DOH spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy said the government is exerting all efforts to ensure that no Filipino will die because of Ebola.

WHO country representative Julie Hall also said the Philippines is on the right track in responding to the Ebola threat.

Ona gave assurance that government and private hospitals are equipped to handle Ebola patients.

He told a Senate health committee hearing on Wednesday that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa, the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila and Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City have designated isolation rooms for Ebola patients.

Hospitals in Western Visayas, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Bicol, Tuguegarao and Baguio City have also prepared isolation rooms in anticipation of Ebola cases.

Health workers will attend a seminar on WHO guidelines in responding to Ebola cases on Oct. 28 to 30.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas also said yesterday the entire government has prepared contingency plans for the possible entry of the deadly Ebola virus in the country.

Roxas said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are ready to do their share in dealing with the Ebola threat, saying this is part of President Aquino’s “whole government approach,” the same strategy that the government applied in dealing with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) threat.

Aquino recently signed an executive order forming an inter-agency task force to manage emerging infectious diseases in the country. The administration has beefed up coordination among government agencies in the monitoring against the Ebola outbreak.

“Just like it is in a hospital, so it is in governance, the whole of government approach means everyone has to unite and work together,” Roxas said at the 97th Foundation Anniversary of the Philippine Nurses Association.

Roxas noted that the government’s past experiences in dealing with infectious diseases like MERS-CoV, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and bird flu have taught the people and the government the importance of preparing contingency plans.

“During that time (the MERS-Corona virus threat), the PNP’s role was to trace the passengers that had come home but who have tested positive for the MERS-CoV,” Roxas said.

He stressed that the government cannot be complacent knowing that “we have 12 million Filipinos abroad.”

“Who knows if someone among them may have at some point coming home encountered a carrier?” the DILG chief said. – With Cecile Suerte Felipe