Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 6) — The Department of Health said the proposed Center for Disease Control and Prevention should be institutionalized under the agency.
The DOH presented a proposed structure that placed the CDC below the DOH Office of the Secretary.
“By institutionalizing the CDC in the DOH-OSEC we will improve our capacity to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies to protect lives and allow development to proceed even in the worst of times,” Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography on Thursday.
However, Senator Richard Gordon – author of the Philippine CDC bill – opposed this, saying the new body should be independent from the DOH, subject to certain controls by the President and an advisory board.
“I most vigorously oppose that,” he told the panel, referring to the DOH’s proposal. “The reason why you have a Center for Disease Control is that you would want to be able to get doctors who are independent-minded, not to tip-toe their way into a political minefield.”
“There are always minefields floating around and certainly, not even for most politicians… there are certain demands that are made upon them that sometimes may not be the best interest of our country,” Gordon added.
The World Health Organization, through country representative Rabindra Abeyasinghe, welcomed the proposal of a national CDC.
“The establishment of the Philippine CDC will be an informed step in enhancing the preparedness and response capacities of the national government,” Abeyasinghe said in the same hearing.
He added that the WHO earlier proposed the creation of a CDC since recommendations of the DOH in pandemic response efforts were not implemented quickly enough.
