PRIMEX to assist DOH anew on H1N1 preparedness and control

PRIMEX is again at the forefront of the country’s preparedness efforts for a possible human influenza pandemic.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) awarded to the Firm on 3 March 2010 the implementation of a grant to the Philippine component, through the Department of Health (DOH), for the Prevention and Control of Influenza A (H1N1).

The Project is one of a large number of projects under the Regional Technical Assistance to Fight Avian Influenza in Asia and the Pacific (Grant 6313). Starting today, 16 March 2010, the six-person team of specialists will support the DOH National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (NCDPC) in enhancing the ability of the Philippine health care system, at both the national and local levels, to manage and coordinate cases and outbreaks of H1N1.

This will be done by organizing coordinated actions towards addressing the spread of the communicable disease at several governance levels and improving the capacity for detection and response among health facilities, laboratories, and the communities at large. Activities will cover the areas of epidemiology, community health development, and training, which are all to be accomplished over the six-month period of the Project.

This Project is the third in a series of ADB-supported and PRIMEX-implemented initiatives to prevent the spread of emerging infectious diseases in the region. From November 2005-June 2008, PRIMEX implemented a grant project to support DOH in the surveillance, prevention, and control of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) including SARS, avian influenza (H5N1), and dengue.

From July 2006- September 2008, PRIMEX implemented another RETA for Strengthening Epidemiological Surveillance and Response (ESR) in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines (RETA 6305).

The PRIMEX Team for this Project is composed of Dr. Antonio B. Bautista, Team Leader/Training Specialist; Dr. Florante Magboo, Epidemiological Response and Management Specialist; Dr. Jose Ramoncito Navarro, Training Specialist I; Ms. Eireen B. Villa, Training Specialist II; Mr. Henry R. Briones, Community Health Development Specialist; and Dr. Jose R. Rodriguez, Technical Editor.