WHILE drawbacks are nearly inevitable when it comes to the Covid-19 pandemic response—a similar scenario in other countries during a global health crisis—the Department of Health (DOH) remained unfazed toward the yearend, vowing to do even better in fighting an unseen enemy that has upended entire countries and systems, forever changing the way people live.
The DOH said, amid continuing brickbats for some missteps in pandemic response, that it will always choose “to burn the midnight oil” and learn from the deficiencies to “continue serving the best for our fellowmen.”
Two years into the Covid-19 pandemic and with its extreme uncertainty, the DOH said that the continued support and improvement in the country’s healthcare system capacity are as important as detection and prevention. Balancing both among its priorities, the agency claimed, resulted in success in managing “our facilities amid the surges we have experienced.”
The DOH, despite the challenges, vowed to continue to improve its response strategies from each lesson and feedback it encounters.
“But despite these challenges, it served as driving forces of the Department to improve its ways in handling the pandemic as well as the issues arising from and surrounding it,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
Vergeire, who has been the agency’s daily face and voice in briefings the past two years, recalled that at the start of the pandemic when very “limited” resources and information were available, “the DOH wrestled to carry out appropriate interventions to slow down the spread of the virus.”
“Bit by bit, the Department had to quickly cope with the emerging situation and new information at hand to provide a timely response,” Vergeire told the BusinessMirror.
Expert groups
Vergeire noted that the health department is backed with reputable expert groups, providing “scientific and evidence-based” recommendations on how the country can effectively and efficiently respond to Covid-19, as well as provide timely, appropriate and accurate interventions against the pandemic that is always centered on what is best for the health and safety of the Filipino people.
“The Department also strictly coordinates with its regional counterparts and local government units to ensure that existing Covid-19 and vaccination strategies are properly and efficiently implemented. This, with an end in view of impeding the community transmission of Covid-19 and doubling the number of fully vaccinated individuals to achieve population protection,” the DOH official said.
DOH budget
OF the P73.99 billion for Covid-19 response for 2022, the Department of Budget and Management approved only P19.68 billion.
Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III earlier said that the 73-percent budget slash for the agency’s Covid-19 response next year would affect the allocations for the allowances and benefits for health workers, including hazard pay, special risk allowance, and meals, among others.
While the DOH was able to augment the resources of the local health facilities, Vergeire said that the increased demand in vaccination as well as its coverage, and the continued challenge of managing control of Covid-19 infections in the country had made 2021 even harder. This, while also managing other health-related programs such as for immunization, infectious and non-infectious diseases, nutrition, reproductive health, etc.
Additionally, she said that over the past year, they were able to see positive results from implementing the Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat and Reintegrate (PDITR) strategies in localities through the expansion of hospitals, laboratories and diagnostic methods, active case finding in local government units, reinforcement of public health protocols and safety measures in establishments and other public settings, increased testing capacity, and continuous coordination with Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (PSMID) Living CPG for Covid-19 on expanding and updating the list of Covid-19 drugs and medicines. “Hence, the Department ensures that these will be maintained and continued to be improved,” she stressed.
As the Department repeatedly emphasized, the Covid-19 interventions remain the same but continue to be improved over time.
While the year ahead might be uncertain for the majority of us, the DOH assures that it will continue to serve the Filipino people, not only in combating the pandemic but at the same time improving and intensifying other health programs for a safer and healthier Pilipinas this 2022 and towards the realization of Universal Health Care (UHC).
Biosurveillance efforts
VERGEIRE also said that the satellite facilities of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) in the Visayas and Mindanao may open as early as January 2022 to strengthen the biosurveillance capacity of the country.
Currently, Vergeire said they are just finishing the preparatory activities before the facilities become operational.
Earlier, Vergeire said logistical limitations remain a challenge for regions in the Visayas and Mindanao to send their samples to Manila to detect variants.
The PGC can process at least 750 samples per week.
The expansions are expected to double the output as both facilities in the Visayas and Mindanao may run at least 350 samples each.
“We continuously learn from our pandemic response. With the emergence of more transmissible variants to repeated spikes in our Covid-19 cases while we are addressing the challenges of accessing other healthcare programs, the DOH is continuously working towards a more coordinated and collaborative health systems delivery that will help the nation fully realize the promises of UHC,” Vergeire said, stressing that the DOH equally balances its priorities for the nation’s Covid-19 response.
Moreover, with the continuous threat of emerging variants, the DOH reiterated the significance of the country’s biosurveillance.
“We were able to detect variants of concern such as Delta and Omicron variants, as well as helped us determine the reasons for clustering and unusual spikes in certain areas which allowed us to employ quick interventions as necessary to contain the spread of the virus,” she said.
Vaccination program
IN addition to this, DOH underscores the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination program which yielded positive results reflected in the numbers of Covid-19 cases and admission/hospitalization rate.
Since March of 2021, the DOH realized the value and efforts of the LGUs in making vaccination against Covid-19 more accessible to their constituents, as well as their support in echoing vaccination advocacies.
With the stability of the vaccine supply, the DOH doubled efforts in vaccine information caravans to “increase vaccine willingness and uptake among our fellowmen.”
“Not just in 2021, but two years into the pandemic, our response put more value to the whole-of-society, the whole-of-government approach. We cannot beat Covid-19 alone. The government needs everyone to work together to help in our Covid-19 response,” Vergeire said.
She added: “Our Bayanihan Bakunahan also highlights the importance of a whole-of-society, whole-of-government approach. We engaged the private sector, civil society organizations, and even medical organizations to help boost our vaccine coverage during this event. We could not have achieved our milestones without the help of everyone.”
The country hit a milestone on December 16, after the 100 millionth dose of Covid-19 vaccine was administered.
The National Covid-19 Vaccination Operations Center reported that the country has administered a total of 100,019,137, with over 43 million individuals or 55.78 percent of the target population fully vaccinated.
“This gargantuan milestone is a huge turnaround from the scarcity of vaccine supplies we have once faced at the beginning of our vaccination program. This sparks hope that we can continue to march forward in this pandemic,” Duque said.
Duque said they owe this achievement to the people who have endeavored together to bring these vaccines to even the farthest barangays—from the Vaccine Cluster to the healthcare and local government unit workers, and volunteers—all selflessly working towards protecting more Filipinos from Covid-19.
Remain vigilant
The DOH relentlessly reminds the public to remain vigilant and non-complacent as the country further fights the pandemic by launching several health campaigns which stimulate behavioral change that will help reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission in public settings such as workplaces, malls, public markets, etc.
“Aside from this, we enjoin Filipinos to avoid 3C’s or the Closed spaces, Crowded places, and Close-Contact settings, especially those with poor air circulation and ventilation. With this, the public is urged to BIDA Solusyon + (wearing of face masks, frequent handwashing, maintaining physical distancing, and getting vaccinated against Covid-19) or be part of the solution to prevent infection as well as risks of experiencing severe disease, hospitalization, and death,” Vergeire stressed.
Moreover, the DOH likewise urged Filipinos to habitually check the veracity of every information on the Covid-19 virus, its variants, and vaccines, in order to decrease the prevalence of mis- and disinformation seen on social media and other platforms and channels.
The Department, in 2021, partnered with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google to fight fake news on Covid-19 and vaccines circulating on the Internet.
Furthermore, the DOH called on the national government agencies, LGUs and the private sector for stricter implementation of the PDITR strategies and safety measures in workplaces and other establishments, reinforce minimum health protocols, and intensify active case finding to strengthen our Covid-19 response.
“Finally, while the DOH works on increasing the vaccination coverage of the country, it once again emphasizes the importance of getting vaccinated and booster shots after the primary series amid the threats of variants. With this, we call on all senior citizens and persons with comorbidities who remain unvaccinated to choose to be protected against Covid-19 by getting vaccinated,” Vergeire emphasized.