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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%" height=10>Monday, November 13, 2006
</TD></TR><TR><TD width="100%" height=10> </TD></TR><TR><TD width="100%" height=10>
</TD></TR><TR><TD width="100%" height=10>Lea Manto Beltran, Subeditor, Health News<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>
The Department of Health will donate aging medicines for avian-flu patients to Indonesia or Cambodia but hopes the supply will be replenished in case the flu breaks out here.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
?We?re donating Tamiflu medicines to either Indonesia or Cambodia because the medicines donated by Unilab two years ago are expiring in November 2007 and we want to maximize the use of these medicines,? Health Undersecretary Ethelyn Nieto told a press conference on Friday on Avian Influenza Pandemic Preparedness sponsored by the department and the World Health Organization (WHO).<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
Nieto was quick to explain that if the Philippines needed Tamiflu in the future, the supply will be replenished.
<O:P></O:P>
?Thank God, the Philippines is still free from avian flu,? she said.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
At the briefing, Dr. Jean Marc Olive, the WHO representative to the Philippines, presented a global update on the avian influenza. As of October 2006, 55 people have died in Indonesia from influenza A (H5N1), Olive said. In Vietnam there are 42 deaths. Other countries where H5N1 cases have been confirmed are Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Thailand and Turkey.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
A new and extremely severe influenza virus, the H5N1 strain, first infected humans in Hong Kong in 1997, with 18 cases reported, including six deaths. <O:P></O:P>
Since mid-2003, this virus has caused the largest and most severe outbreaks in poultry on record. Health experts around the world have been monitoring H5N1 strain for almost eight years now.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
Since the start of the outbreak, the Philippines has remained free from the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and does not have any reported case of avian influenza due to H5N1 both in birds and in humans.
<O:P> </O:P>
However, Dr. Luningning Villa of the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control said the government remains vigilant, because the virus continues to pose a threat not only to humans but to economic security as well.
<O:P></O:P>
The Preparedness and Response Plan for Avian and Pandemic Influenza, especially geared toward Philippine corporations, public and private institutions, was presented by Dr. Villa. The plan discussed the rationale of the plan and the probable Philippine scenario, especially highlighting the key elements of preparedness and the lines of defense in the event of the pandemic.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
Among the DOH has already taken:<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
? The creation of a national structure and mandate?National Avian Influenza Task Force<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
? Replication of the Task Forces up to the local level<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
? Preparation of the Avian Influenza Protection Program and the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
? Development of planning tools for integration of the veterinary and human health for avian and pandemic influenza preparedness; implementation of the ban on importation of poultry and poultry products from affected countries<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
? Establishment of a unified private-sector network, composed primarily of the civil society organization and the business sector; capability building of key people from the central and regional offices of the Departments of Agriculture, of Health and of Environment and Natural Resources and agricultural and health officers in 20 critical sites covering 103 municipalities<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
? Training of DOH-retained and selected local hospitals; and development and dissemination of information on avian influenza.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
Should H5N1 evolve to be as contagious as normal influenza, a pandemic could begin, that may result to several, simultaneous epidemics worldwide with enormous numbers of deaths and illness.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
<O:P>.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></O:P>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%" height=10>Monday, November 13, 2006
</TD></TR><TR><TD width="100%" height=10> </TD></TR><TR><TD width="100%" height=10>
</TD></TR><TR><TD width="100%" height=10>Lea Manto Beltran, Subeditor, Health News<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P><O:P></O:P>
The Department of Health will donate aging medicines for avian-flu patients to Indonesia or Cambodia but hopes the supply will be replenished in case the flu breaks out here.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
?We?re donating Tamiflu medicines to either Indonesia or Cambodia because the medicines donated by Unilab two years ago are expiring in November 2007 and we want to maximize the use of these medicines,? Health Undersecretary Ethelyn Nieto told a press conference on Friday on Avian Influenza Pandemic Preparedness sponsored by the department and the World Health Organization (WHO).<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
Nieto was quick to explain that if the Philippines needed Tamiflu in the future, the supply will be replenished.
<O:P></O:P>
?Thank God, the Philippines is still free from avian flu,? she said.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
At the briefing, Dr. Jean Marc Olive, the WHO representative to the Philippines, presented a global update on the avian influenza. As of October 2006, 55 people have died in Indonesia from influenza A (H5N1), Olive said. In Vietnam there are 42 deaths. Other countries where H5N1 cases have been confirmed are Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Thailand and Turkey.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
A new and extremely severe influenza virus, the H5N1 strain, first infected humans in Hong Kong in 1997, with 18 cases reported, including six deaths. <O:P></O:P>
Since mid-2003, this virus has caused the largest and most severe outbreaks in poultry on record. Health experts around the world have been monitoring H5N1 strain for almost eight years now.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
Since the start of the outbreak, the Philippines has remained free from the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and does not have any reported case of avian influenza due to H5N1 both in birds and in humans.
<O:P> </O:P>
However, Dr. Luningning Villa of the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control said the government remains vigilant, because the virus continues to pose a threat not only to humans but to economic security as well.
<O:P></O:P>
The Preparedness and Response Plan for Avian and Pandemic Influenza, especially geared toward Philippine corporations, public and private institutions, was presented by Dr. Villa. The plan discussed the rationale of the plan and the probable Philippine scenario, especially highlighting the key elements of preparedness and the lines of defense in the event of the pandemic.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
Among the DOH has already taken:<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
? The creation of a national structure and mandate?National Avian Influenza Task Force<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
? Replication of the Task Forces up to the local level<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
? Preparation of the Avian Influenza Protection Program and the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
? Development of planning tools for integration of the veterinary and human health for avian and pandemic influenza preparedness; implementation of the ban on importation of poultry and poultry products from affected countries<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
? Establishment of a unified private-sector network, composed primarily of the civil society organization and the business sector; capability building of key people from the central and regional offices of the Departments of Agriculture, of Health and of Environment and Natural Resources and agricultural and health officers in 20 critical sites covering 103 municipalities<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
? Training of DOH-retained and selected local hospitals; and development and dissemination of information on avian influenza.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
Should H5N1 evolve to be as contagious as normal influenza, a pandemic could begin, that may result to several, simultaneous epidemics worldwide with enormous numbers of deaths and illness.<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P></O:P>
<O:P>.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></O:P>