DOST urges preparations for future pandemics

Published May 26, 2020, 11:40 AM

The country needs to be prepared for future pandemics, said Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Forunato de la Pena said on Tuesday, May 26.

“We have to be prepared because pandemics such we are experiencing now can occur again in the future,” de la Pena said during an interview over CNN Philippines.

De la Pena pointed this out as he pushed for the establishment of the Pharmaceutical Development Center and the Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines, both of which are now under consideration by President Duterte.

“The development of vaccines requires a very good research on viruses particularly those that are circulating in our environment,” he said.

“This will also require the establishment of a virus high containment laboratory for the study of viruses,” he added.

At the moment, de la Pena lamented that some products have to be sent abroad for testing “because we no facilities such as these.”

Also, de la Pena also believes that the lack of facilities is one reason why persons the DOST send for scholarships in specialized fields in biology go abroad.

“We have no local efforts to create a vaccine because it will take a long time and we do not have the facilities,” he also pointed out.

In the meantime, the DOST chief disclosed that the country is seeking to collaborate with institutions in China and Chinese-Taipei (Taiwan) in the creation of a vaccine against the deadly 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“So we communicated with them and we are in the process preparing what is needed to execute the collaboration,” he disclosed.

SOURCE: https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/05/26/dost-urges-preparations-for-future-pandemics/