DOH dapat maging proactive sa COVID-19 response

Pinakikilos ni House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman at Albay Rep. Joey Salceda ang Department of Health upang maging proactiove sa halip na reactive sa COVID-19 response.

Ayon kay Salceda, dahil sa paging proactive ng DOH lahat ng major health interventions ng bansa ay reactive sa halip na proactive at precautionary.

Inihalimbawa nito ang kanyang proposal na isailalim sa lockdown ang Metro Manila pero nagtagal pa bago nagbigay ng kanilang rekomendasyon ang ahensya gayundin ang panukala nitong extension.

“My problem with the DOH is that they appear not to have a thorough and proactive appraisal of the situation. The result is that many of our major health interventions are reactive, rather than proactive and precautionary. You will remember that when I submitted my original proposal for a Metro Manila lockdown, it took the DOH a while to recommend this course of action. When we asked for an extension, again, they seemed not to have a thorough sense of what to do,” saad ni Salceda.

Hindi na rin anya dapat nasurpresa ang DOH at humantong sa paghingi ng timeout ang mga health workers gayung isa lamang naman ang pinagbabasehan ng mga ito ng datos.

Ani Salceda, “When the health care workers sought a timeout, it shouldn’t have had to come to that point, since both the health organizations and the DOH were looking at the same data anyway. The DOH should not have been surprised by the request”.

Binigyan-diin ni Salceda na mas magastos ang pagtugon sa pandemya kung reactive ang mga desisyon ng DOH.

Gayunman, walang nakikitang malaking problema ang kongresista pagdating sa economic strategies na sinusunod, na kinikilala ng mga international observers at credit rating agencies.

Aminado naman din si Salceda na dahil sa mahina ang health preparedness framework ng bansa ay malabong mareresolba ang mga ito kaagad.

Ito aniya ang dahilan kung bakit isinusulong naman niya ang pagtatatag ng Centers for Disease Control and Prevention para mapaghandaan hindi lamang ang day-to-day health issues tulad ng mga lifestyle disease kundi maging ang mga pandemya tulad na lamang ng COVID-19.