Go pushes readiness for future health crises

SEN. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go has renewed his call for the creation of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a Medical Reserve Corps to improve the country’s capability in dealing with health crises.

Go is pushing two measures to accomplish the objective, first is Senate Bill (SB) 195, under which some of the proposed major functions of the CDC will include investigating potential cases of public health emergency; enforcing regulations to prevent the spread of communicable diseases; procuring and distributing vaccines, antibiotics and other medical supplies; and working with other countries and international organizations to improve disease prevention and control systems and practices.

Meanwhile, SB 1180, or the proposed “Medical Reserve Corps Act of 2022,” seeks to establish a Medical Reserve Corps composed of licensed physicians, nurses, medical technologists, persons who have degrees in the field of medicine, nursing, medical technology and other health-related fields, members of the Reserve Force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the Medical Service, and administrative and technical personnel.

Go added that the proposed CDC will not replace the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

“It is important that we continue to support the RITM and let us study carefully the harmonization and delineation of the functions of the agencies,” said Go during a Senate committee hearing on Thursday.

The senator said the RITM will continue to exist to provide tertiary care to both inpatients and outpatients suffering from infectious diseases and regular training courses to medical and paramedical personnel.

“At the start of the pandemic, we depended on RITM for Covid-19 testing since they’re the only one that has the capability then. In fact, the budget of RITM for 2020 was almost reduced during the budget deliberations in 2019. I opposed it and with the help of my colleagues in the Senate, we succeeded in increasing the budget of RITM,” said Go.

“In other countries, the Centers for Disease Control have been instrumental in this pandemic. As experts in the field of infectious diseases, they are at the forefront of the health battle against Covid-19. It is high time for us to have our own CDC,” he added.