Go pushes anew creation of CDC, VIP

AMID the rising cases of communicable diseases, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go on Tuesday renewed his push for the creation of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as the Virology Institute of the Philippines (VIP).

“Recently, we have seen an increase in the number of cases of some communicable diseases, such as pertussis and measles. Although there is no surge in hospital admissions on a national level, we have seen some uptick in the number of cases prompting some local government units to declare a pertussis outbreak,” the head of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography said in Filipino.

As of last week, Quezon City, Iloilo City and Cavite province declared outbreaks of pertussis or whooping cough. Some areas also reported significant increases in cases, including Rizal province, Taguig City, Pasig City, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon province and Lucena City.

Last March 30, the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines reported only a slight increase in hospital admissions due to pertussis.

The Department of Health (DoH) also said the country registered 568 cases from January until March 16. Only 26 such cases were reported during the same period last year. Forty have died from the disease so far this year.

In addition to pertussis, the DoH said there have been more than 2,600 measles cases since September last year, with half of this number being from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Earlier, Go filed Senate Bill 195, establishing the CDC, and SB 196, creating the virology institute. Both are designed to strengthen the public health care sector of the country after the lessons learned from the challenges brought about by Covid-19.

“We must ensure that the country is not caught unprepared, underequipped and understaffed in the fight against future challenges to the health of our people,” he said.