WHO ready to help M anila in its fight against monkeypox
MANILA: The World Health Organisation (WHO) is ready to assist the Philippines in its fight against the monkeypox disease following the confirmation that a 31-year-old Filipino had contracted the infectious disease.
This assurance was made on Saturday by Dr Graham Harrison, the WHO Philippine officer in charge who said this is in line with the WHO’S mandate to assist countries with universal health problems like the monkeypox disease.
“As we do with disease outbreaks who has been and will continue to work closely with the Department of Health (DOH) to provide technical advice to support the implementation of national policy strategies and plan,” Harrison said.
But Harrison, himself cited the DOH readiness in handling the monkeypox cases saying: “The DOH has been working towards preparedness, prevention, and response to monkeypox.”
The Philippines, so far has been confirmed as the eighth country in the WHO Western Pacific to have a monkeypox case.
On Friday, the Philippines reported that a 31-year-old Filipino who arrived from abroad was confirmed to have contracted monkeypox.
The person had prior travelled to countries with documented monkeypox infections.
According to the DOH Undersecretary Beverly Ho, the Filipino returned from abroad on July 19 and had already recovered, but was still isolating at home.
Ho said the 10 people identified as close contacts including three from the patient’s own household had been ordered to quarantine.
Dr Jose de Grano, president of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines assured that member hospitals are ready to manage suspected or confirmed monkeypox cases.
De Grano said that the preparations for the handling of monkeypox cases are the same as those of the coronavirus infections.
The protocols are also the same to isolate those suspected monkeypox cases, he told a radio interview. As much as possible, de Grano said that suspected monkeypox cases should be isolated and treated in a hospital to prevent further transmission.