DOH tells Congress P20 billion needed in worst-case H1N1 scenario

Officials of the Department of Health (DOH) told congressmen yesterday that they need nearly P20 billion to fight a worst-case scenario of an Influenza A(H1N1) pandemic that could kill as many as 100,000 Filipinos.

Of that amount, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said P16 billion would be used for the purchase of vaccines that are still in various stages of development and formulation.

He said an additional P3.6 billion would be used for the confinement and treatment of those to be infected by the virus, while P46 million would be used for “hospital support.”

The DOH would also need some amount for the purchase of laboratory equipment, he said.

In all, Duque said his department would request P19.85 billion from Congress or Malacañang.

He informed congressmen that the amount would be needed in a worst-case scenario where 22.5 million Filipinos could be infected and 100,000 could die from the virus.

These figures are based on projections of the World Health Organization (WHO), which has classified the spread of A(H1N1) as a pandemic.

Duque said the WHO has projected a global “attack rate” of 30-35 percent of the population, though in the Philippines, only 25 percent of the people are expected to be infected.

He said WHO is also projecting a mortality rate of .42 percent.

However, he said that in the Philippines, only one has died out of 1,709 cases recorded as of June 27.

“So we have a death rate of only .06 percent compared to the global rate of .42 percent,” Duque said.

He stressed that the strain spreading in the country is “milder” compared to the virus that struck in Mexico and the United States.

But WHO representative Dr. Soe Nyunt-u, who accompanied Duque to the hearing, said the A(H1N1) strain that is infecting Filipinos is “moderately severe” considering that it is fast spreading.

The entire population and health authorities should not be complacent, he said.

Duque rejected suggestions that the A(H1N1) virus should be considered as a seasonal flu.

“It’s too early for us to do that. We have not really seen how this virus evolves. We’re not even halfway into its evolution. It’s possible that it could mutate into a virulent strain,” Duque said.

He said seasonal flu afflictions last through the entire rainy season and until December.

“We will see if A(H1N1) will follow this pattern,” he said.

He discouraged self-medication among those with flu symptoms, saying he received reports that many who had fever took the anti-viral drug Tamiflu.

“It might result in resistance to the drug,” he said.

He also said vaccines against seasonal flu won’t protect a person from being infected with A(H1N1) virus.

Congressmen balked at Duque’s request of P19.85 billion to fight a “single disease.”

They said there are other killer diseases like dengue that the DOH must also pay attention to.

Meanwhile, the government will continue efforts to combat the spread of the deadly A(H1N1) virus but on a low-profile basis as the country’s image has somehow suffered from the high number of reported cases of the flu, officials disclosed yesterday.

Deputy presidential spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo made the disclosure after tourism officials reported that there were some cancellations of group tours. R&B artist Akon’s concert was cancelled last week reportedly due to fears of the A(H1N1) virus, but the concert is expected to push through in October.

Fajardo said the Philippines was paying the price for being honest and diligent in reporting cases of A(H1N1) infections in the country.

Health officials earlier pointed out that other countries in the region have not been fully transparent and were underreporting their cases of A(H1N1) viral infections to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“The Department of Health is doing the right thing in informing the public of the real status and by doing that, we are making them aware and vigilant and they would know how to protect themselves and not panic,” Fajardo told a news briefing.

“The objective is not to sow panic but to allow the people to protect and prepare themselves (against the flu virus),” she said.

Fajardo said the DOH is no longer aggressively pushing swab tests for possible A(H1N1) cases and encouraging people to check into hospitals if they suspect they have the virus since it was proven to be mild.

More test positive for H1N1 in Davao

In Davao, at least eight more people tested positive for the A(H1N1) virus based on the results of throat swab samples released by the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang.

According to Dr. Salvador Estrera, the new positive cases were noted in the RITM results released yesterday.

Estrera said no one among the new positive cases were admitted to the hospital’s isolation ward.

“They are all on home quarantine,” Estrera told The STAR.

The new cases in the region include a 43-year-old female from Ecoland, Barangay Matina, Davao who traveled to Qatar; an 11-year-old male from Matina Aplay district who came from California; a 38-year-old male from Toril district who traveled to Turkey and Thailand; a nine-year-old male from Toril who came home from California; a 27-year-old female from Matina who has no travel history; a 17-year-old boy from Bangkal who also has no travel history and a three-year-old boy from Ladislawa Subdivision, who came from Taiwan.

DOH officials and the Davao City Swine Flu Task Force held a meeting yesterday to address the new cases.

– With Paolo Romero and Edith Regalado