CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Department of Science and Technology (DOST) pledged to continuously support the endeavors of the country’s health research community.
DOST Regional Director Julius Caesar Sicat emphasized that health researchers have been vital in attaining the feats achieved during the pandemic, and in bouncing back from the losses amid the global health crisis through the Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS).
“DOST is the partner of every health researcher whether it is health-related, agriculture-related, or energy-related. The DOST is mandated to provide central direction in terms of health research and technologies that have to be conducted in all the regions. As such, we are very committed to continuously support our endeavors regarding science and technology,” he said.
The agency, together with the members of the System, feted various research on national recovery and resiliency during the 15th PNHRS Week celebration on August 8 to 12.
With this, Sicat shared the notable achievements of the PNHRS in combating the COVID-19 pandemic including the development of the first Filipino-made COVID-19 diagnostic kit during the peak of the health crisis.
“A competent, ethical, dynamic, and responsive research community working together for the attainment of national health goals is the vision of the PNHRS. Through the System, we are able to promote cooperation and integration of all health research efforts and stakeholders in the country,” he stated.
The official added that the System also supported the fabrication of Swab Testing Stations, and installed 132 units of these in Department of Health-identified testing centers in the country to protect healthcare workers during specimen collection.
In addition, Sicat underscored that the PNHRS also boosted the country’s COVID-19 testing capacities through the establishment of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) satellite facilities which provided services and significant contributions in testing, training, capacity building, support, and collaboration on researches about the disease.
“The work of the PGC has been crucial in determining the virus strains present in the country, forming the basis for various quarantine policies enacted by the IATF,” he stated.
The organization also distributed a total of 369 units of RxBox in 2020 which is a biomedical telemedicine device capable of measuring a patient’s vital signs and storing health information for initial screening.
Moreover, Sicat emphasized that also among the accomplishments of PNHRS is its support to the recalibration of FASSTER, a disease surveillance tool for COVID-19 which served as the official operational model of the IATF in providing forecasts on possible cases and scenarios in the country, guiding decision-making in COVID-19 response.
The System also made clinical trials on lagundi for patients with mild COVID-19 without comorbidities, and virgin coconut oil’s antiviral properties versus the disease.
“All of these initiatives and endeavors would not have been possible if there were no efficient and effective network of researchers and research institutions in the health research system strategically placed in different regions of the country,” he pressed.
He added that the PNHRS, along with its regional partners, is currently focused on the establishment of the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines.