DOH vows to continue improving its response to Covid-19 pandemic

A year After lockdown

As the lead agency in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Health (DOH) has assured that it will carry on improving their response to the pandemic and ensure continuity in the delivery of basic health services amid the health crisis.

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III also said the government will continue to strengthen the country’s Covid-19 response this year while he recognized the tireless efforts of DOH officials and personnel in combating the virus.

A little over a year after imposing a lockdown in the country, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, for her part, said that the Covid-19 response of the government has “improved so much.”

“We were not used to handle many Covid cases but as compared to the situation before, now doctors have wide array or options to manage cases,” she said.

She noted that the case fatality rate was also maintained at 2 percent or “a little above 2 percent.”

Improvement in bed allocation

THE health system, she added, also improved when it comes to bed allocation.

“All hospitals are able to allocate beds appropriately according to the standard,” she said adding that the creation of One Hospital Command helped in assisting Covid-19 patients to be accommodated in quarantine facilities for proper treatment.

Also, she stressed from one laboratorythe Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (Ritm)—there are now over 220 laboratories in the country.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Duque gave a 9-10 rating for the DOH’S efforts in mitigating the impact of the pandemic, noting that the agency is at the forefront of the “whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach to fight against Covid-19.”

“Based on my experience on the ground, with my interactions with my DOH team, I would give them 9-10 in terms of great effort, [ not only] to contribute to our national pandemic response but also having led pandemic response in every aspects of our five-point strategy against Covid-19,” Duque said in one of the media forum of the DOH.

He also underscored the sacrifices, hard work, dedication of the DOH family since the start of the pandemic.

“Their sacrifice is beyond measure, it’s incomparable,” Duque said in Filipino.

Achievements in covid-19 response

DUQUE noted that the response of the government has improved a lot since the start of the pandemic.

Case detection and diagnosis have vastly improved by the rapid establishment of laboratories and health provider networks.

As compared to the average of 1,282 actual tests per day recorded in March 2020, data from DOH showed that from March 7 to March 13, 2021 there were 256,753 individuals who were tested. There were 36,132 individuals tested on March 13 alone.

Building health capacities

In response to the pandemic, Duque said that they focused on building the health capacities to ensure the safety of the Filipinos from the threat of the virus and other emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, “and that health services are closer to home.”

From 33,384 total beds in hospitals and Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities as of April 15, 2020, it increased to 160,024 as of December 28, 2020.

There was also a substantial increase in hired health-care workers (HCWS) to attend to the needs of those afflicted by the pandemic.

As of December 18, 2020, there were 12,733 hired HCWS while there were 14,789 redeployed HCWS as the same date.

Appointment of Galvez as vaccine czar

When President Duterte announced the appointment of national Task Force against Covid-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. in november last year as the vaccine czar, Duque together with the Interagency Task Force (IATF) on emerging Infectious Diseases, where he is the chairman, welcomed this appointment.

“We at the DOH and IATF welcome it and give our full support to Secretary Galvez for the success of our Covid 19 vaccine/immunization program,” Duque told the Businessmirror.

At the start, the appointment of Galvez was criticized for he is not a “health expert.”

Galvez, who gladly accepted the appointment, will be the sole person in charge of the negotiations and purchase of vaccines against Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Vergeire said then that Galvez’s appointment will expedite the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines.

“We will help him, we’ll support him. The whole government will cooperate along with other partners,” Vergeire said.

Addressing his critics, Galvez, a former chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said that his military background will make it easier for him to do the coordination.

Recently, Galvez flew to India to directly deal with the Serum Institute of India to guarantee both short and long term vaccine supplies for our country. Another team is expected to fly to Russia to further conduct a study on the vaccine produced by Gamaleya.

Picking up the pace of vaccination roll out

ALSO, DOH and the NTF assured the public that the current pace of the Covid-19 vaccination for health-care workers would pick up once the bulk of the government-procured doses, as well as those from the Covax Facility, arrive by mid-second quarter of this year.

“It is not logical to compute performance evaluation from the start of the mini roll out. We will be able to get our benchmark vaccination rate when we start our massive community roll out by May and June,” Galvez said.

“We are only in the second week of our roll out, but the experience we are gaining from this phase will help us once supply of vaccines becomes steady. As of latest count, we have already deployed almost 90 percent of our available doses. These vaccines have reached Batanes to Tawi-tawi, from the northernmost to the southernmost island provinces—a testament that our distribution channels are ready should the vaccines arrive,” Galvez said.

“While herd immunity is the goal of every country including ours, our short term goal with the limited vaccine supply is to reduce mortality and protect those who are at most risk.” Duque said. “We are confident that we will be vaccinating many more once our vaccines arrive, but while we wait for our turn to get vaccinated, I want to emphasize that we cannot let our guards down. Vaccination is only one of our strategies to beat this virus, but our adherence to MPHS or Minimum Public Health Standards is still the best,” he added.

expanding Barangay Health emergency response teams

TO strengthen the role of the Barangay Health emergency Response Teams (BHERTS) in helping Filipinos navigate the public health-care system, Duque said that the DOH has partnered with the Department of the Interior and local Government (DILG) for this.

Duque expressed his support for the initiative that expands the role of BHERTS in the community, capitalizing on the service infrastructure the department has built over the past seven months not only for effective Covid-19 response but also for universal health care (UHC).

The UHC law provides that each household must be assigned under the coverage of a Barangay Health emergency Response Team that will help them gain access to public health-care services, including Philhealth-covered Covid-19 services, primary care services, immunization, and consultations.

“While we continue to communicate the minimum public health standards and other services of our pandemic response, we cannot expect Filipinos to access services from our healthcare system on their own,” Duque said adding that through this partnership, “our BHERTS will become our community navigators in promoting localized solutions and services that every Filipino can access.”

BHERTS, initially tasked to provide immediate and appropriate emergency assistance during the pandemic, work closely with the national and local governments to implement the necessary health programs and standards in, as well as disseminate protocols and updates to, their assigned households.

The DOH noted that there were a total of 39,347 BHERTS nationwide last year.

“Through the joint efforts of the DILG and the DOH, we can make our communities safer from Covid-19 by enabling Filipinos to take charge of their health through the help of our BHERTS,” Duque said.

Minimum public health standards

DUQUE said with almost a year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the DOH has made strides toward embracing the new normal by communicating to the public the minimum public health standards.

With the help of the DILG and local chief executives, the BIDA ang may Disiplina: Solusyon sa Covid-19 movement has helped localize and disseminate these minimum public health standards to communities nationwide.

The government is continuously reminding the public to follow simple things that would reduce exposure to Covid-19 like wearing face masks and face shields at all times, maintaining physical distancing, practicing proper hand hygiene, and avoiding poorly ventilated or crowded areas.

“Do this not just for yourselves, but also for the safety of your family and the community,” the DOH said.

The DOH has called for massive testing, contact tracing, and quarantine as it warned of the continuous detection of additional cases of B.1.1.7 (UK variant), B.1.351 (South Africa variant), and 13 cases with mutations of possible clinical significance (e484k and n501y mutations), including the identified new variant found in the Philippines, or the P3.

As the deployment of Covid-19 vaccines will start, the DOH has encouraged everyone to only be allowed to be vaccinated with Food and Drug Administration approved vaccines.

Vaccines under the emergency Use Authority shall suffice as the temporary approval for the Covid-19 vaccine to be used.

“However, let’s not be reliant on vaccines as the minimum public health standards are still the most effective way to stop the spread of Covid-19,” the DOH said.