President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has earmarked P150 million budget for the country's fight against the Influenza A (H1N1) disease.Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said the budget was in place should Health Secretary Francisco Duque III ask for more assistance from Malacañang, the national coffers and the regular budget of the Department of Health (DoH).
Fajardo said ”The budget which the President released covers expenses of hospitals monitoring cases under observation (CUOs), laboratory expenses, training of personnel on A/H1N1, personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gas masks and gowns, and stockpiling of Tamiflu medicine.”
She also said that director Yolanda Oliveros of the National Center for Disease and Prevention and Control Center (NCDPC) handled the logistics against A/H1N1.
President Arroyo directed the DoH last Sunday "to do everything within its means" to contain the spread of the influenza A/H1N1 virus, which had forced school authorities to postpone for a week the opening of classes in private schools, colleges and universities.
The President also asked the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) to help the DoH in preventing the spread of the flu virus and educating the people on what steps to take in case the disease contracted them.
Only last week, the DoH confirmed three cases involving foreign exchange students of the De la Salle University, which prompted the school to reset the opening of its classes to June 15.
Other schools in Manila followed suit. Last Saturday, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) announced the postponement of the opening of classes in all universities and colleges as a precautionary measure against the spread of the A/H1N1 virus.
