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Summit prepares LGU execs |
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Posted on 05 Oct 2006
(5 October 2006) PRIMEX culminated the implementation of ADB-funded regional technical assistance (RETA) grant project to support surveillance, prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) through a summit which gathered and briefed local government executives on the threat posed by pandemic influenza, among others. Some 25 municipal mayors attended the meeting last October 4-5 at Astoria Hotel in Pasig City, which aimed to spur local government units (LGUs) to commit budgetary and personnel support for moves to stem the threat of avian influenza through signing a pledge of support. Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque said at the meeting’s opening day that the summit was designed to review the capabilities and pandemic preparedness of Philippine local governments. "Every local government … every community should be able to draft a local preparedness and action plan," Duque said. "And this plan should be continuously tested, reviewed, and enhanced." Only when action starts in communities can we control and contain a budding epidemic from turning into a deadly national disaster." The mayors attending appreciated the gravity of a possible human influenza outbreak and proposed that barangay teams will also be trained so that they can contribute to preparedness and reporting any events that may need further investigation. The RETA project was approved in 2003, backed initially by $ 2 million in grant funds to strengthen national capacity around Asia and the Pacific for surveillance and control of SARS and other emerging communicable diseases. Subsequently, additional funding of $ 3 million from the Japan Special Fund was used to establish a regional "disease outbreak response team" comprising four long-term consultants based at the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific Regional Office in Manila. Following the avian flu outbreak in January 2004, ADB expanded the use of the funds for a broad range of activities related to avian flu — these include procurement of equipment and supplies, training, surveillance or monitoring and screening and other public health system needs in relation to the avian flu outbreak. The International Cooperation and Development Fund (Taipei,China) made available an additional $ 500,000 equivalent for regional capacity building in disease surveillance and response preparedness in June 2004. Allocations of up to $ 200,000 have been made to 15 countries and about $ 400,000 to South Pacific countries. The specific activities under the TA were decided by each country in close consultation with WHO. Since the start of the project in November 2005, activities completed in the Philippines include capacity building for hospital staff, a Training of Trainers Workshop in February, setting up of a new Department of Health website, and a series of regional training courses for LGU health workers conducted nationwide earlier this year. Along with support from other development partners in Philippines, the outreach for training local government units (LGUs) in avian flu surveillance and responsiveness has included almost 500 of the 1,500 local government units, according to Thomas Crouch, ADB’s Country Director for the Philippines. "By including those 500 LGUs we have ensured coverage of each of the country’s regions, and prioritized those LGUs regarded as avian flu "hot spots" for example, those with swamp and marsh areas, and those along bird migratory paths," he said in an opening statement. "LGUs are often the centerpiece for efforts necessary to deliver the country’s agendas for economic and social development, and to rid the Philippines of poverty. Avian flu, too, is best managed at the local level." The RETA has been implemented in the Philippines by the Department of Health through the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control and National Epidemiology Center, with consultants and secretariat support from the Pacific Rim Innovation and Management Exponents, Inc (PRIMEX). (with reports from Asian Development Bank-External Relations Department and the Manila Bulletin) |
