Two lawmakers on Sunday declared that Tacloban City is now prepared and very capable to handle screening for coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) and only awaiting Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s authority for its health officials to begin the examination.
House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and Tingog party-list Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez cited the importance of settting up additional facilities for COVID-19 laboratory tests as cases continue to rise.
“The lack of testing centers may have caused the under-reporting of COVID-19 cases and has been clogging up our already overloaded hospitals,” the Romualdez couple said.
“Help us and we will help ourselves. Tacloban City with the help of Mayor Alfred Romualdez has done its necessary inventory of assets, including supplies, manpower, laboratory, and logistical needs. We are prepared and capable to handle COVID-19 screening,” they added.
“We are urgently appealing for DOH’s favorable action on our request to establish testing center in Tacloban City for COVID-19 control,” they said.
This developed as Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor warned on Sunday that Filipinos who are unaware that they are living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or with tuberculosis (TB) are extremely susceptible to the new coronavirus disease, or COVID-19.
“We have many undiagnosed cases of HIV and TB, which means they are not currently getting any treatment. We’re afraid they are highly vulnerable once exposed to the new coronavirus,” Defensor, House health committee vice chairperson, said.
As to Filipinos already diagnosed with HIV or TB, the Department of Health (DOH) should ensure that they are getting their daily doses of free medicines despite the harsh restrictions on the movement of people imposed by the government to control the COVID-19 outbreak, Defensor said.
He added: “The DOH should see to it that all 156 designated HIV outpatient centers stay open so that those already undergoing treatment are still able to get their free supply of antiretroviral drugs,” Defensor said.
“We have more than 48,000 Filipinos living with HIV who are currently undergoing anti-retroviral therapy, plus another 1,000 new cases every month who are initiated (on the therapy),” Defensor pointed out.
The DOH’s National HIV/AIDS Registry reported a total of 71,778 cases as of September 2019. Rio N. Araja
Of the 71,778 cases, registry data show that only 41,468 cases (or 58 percent) were undergoing treatment while 3,617 (or 5 percent) have died.
The Romualdez couple emphasized that early detection on potential COVID cases will help address the fear that theworsening crisis may overwhelm healthcare facilities in the country.
“These testing centers will promptly identify and respond to any potential COVID-19 cases which will help our campaign to curb the spread of the virus,” said the Romualdezes.
The Romualdez couple also said that their request “is also being supported by private-public partnership to further boost government’s campaign against the dreaded disease.”
“We have to put our act together to protect our people who badly need quick and efficient healthcare delivery system,” they said.
Martin Romualdez is the chairman of the House Committee on Rules while Yedda Romualdez is the chairperson of the House Committee on the Welfare of Children.
Last March 20, Tingog party-list president Glenn Capucion and Health Regional Director Minerva Molon presided a meeting in Tacloban City about the proposal to establish a testing center in Tacloban City aimed at ensuring public health in Region VIII.
The meeting was attended also by Tacloban City Health Office officials led by Dr. Gloria Fabrigas, lawyer Aldrin Quebec who represents Mayor Romualdez, Tacloban City Councilor Evangeline Esperas, and others.
With still no confirmed case of COVID-19, Mayor Romualdez placed Tacloban City under community quarantine to ensure public safety.
Philippine Medical Association of Medical Technologists (PAMET) officer Carlo Chris Apurillo and St Scholastica’s College Tacloban Department of Medical Laboratory Science chairperson Clive Ivan Mercado submitted a letter to the Department of Health (DoH) to grant testing center in Tacloban City.
The DoH has five World Health Organization (WHO)-accredited facilities for all laboratory tests on COVID-19 that include Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) or the only national laboratory for infectious and tropical diseases in Muntinlupa City, San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center in Baguio City, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, and Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City.
On March 20, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health (UP NIH) has been tapped to handle testing.
Vergeire also said that Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City and Bicol Public Health Laboratory in Legazpi City are also being prepared as sub-national laboratories for COVID-19 testing.