No travel ban on RP : WHO says SARS cases in country well contained

The World Health Organization (WHO) stressed yesterday that it "does not recommend any restriction on travel to the Philippines" because of the dreaded Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

In a statement reaching Malacañang, WHO's communicable disease surveillance and response (CSR) unit said WHO had considered the cluster of SARS cases in the Philippines as "well contained."

"There appears to be no increased transmission risk in the Philippines," CSR noted.

As of last May 10, the Philippines has reported a cumulative total of 10 probable SARS cases, with two deaths, the CSR statement said.

Health authorities have determined that all 10 cases were part of a chain of transmission linked to a single imported case. All cases were placed in isolation in hospital.

The CSR added that the contacts of the 10 cases have been traced, and authorities were confident that all contacts have been identified and placed in isolation.

The last two cases that could have transmitted infection were isolated on April 30. All contacts have completed their period of observation, and none has developed SARS, the agency noted.

The cluster of SARS cases in the Philippines began with the importation of a patient who returned to the Philippines from Toronto, Canada. The imported case died of SARS, as did her father.

Two of the remaining eight patients have been discharged, while the others are still in the hospital, the CSR said.

Ople

Saying that these are times when cooperation and understanding among Asssociationof Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN) members shoulds be the rule, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople recently sent to Singapore a note verbale expresssing the concerns of the Philippine government over the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome(SARS)-related travel advisory issued by the Singapore government.

"I conveyed to Singapore the agreement reached during the Special ASEAN Leaders' Meeting on SARS in Bangkok last April 29, that the international community should avoid indiscriminately advising their citizens to refrain from visiting or otherwise dealing with member- countries," Ople said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs(DFA) has summoned Singaporean Charges d' Affaires Paul Koh after Singapore issued a travel advisory against the Philippines last May 8.

"Mr. Koh gave me the assurance of the Singapore government that remedial actions will be immediately address our concerns and prevent similar occurrences in the future. He reiterated to me the importance that Singapore gives to our relationship and the strong desire of Singapore to continue to strengthen our relationship," Oplesaid.

During the meeting, Koh also informed Ople that the Singapore government has revised its May 8 travel advisory by removing the Philippines from its list of countries for Singaporeans to avoid visiting.

In the interest of preserving the good relations between the Philippines and Singapore, the issuance of any travel advisory should be considered thoroughly within the boundaries of regional cooperative action to fight.

Schools

School authorities yesterday appealed to the Department of Health (DoH), the Department of Education (DepEd), and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to intensify their campaign against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) to keep schools safe from the killer disease when classes begin June 9.

Among those who aired the appeal were Philippine Women's University (PWU) president Dr. Amelou Benitez-Reyes, Philippine National Association of School Security Organization (PHILNASSO) president Jose Diño, and Colegio San Juan de Letran (CSJL) Lance editor Fredda Rosete.

"There is a need for a wider information dissemination by the DoH to avoid confusion in the campuses. The DoH should intensify its campaign and issue guidelines. We're lucky here at PWU campus in Manila because DoH representatives conducted an anti-SARS seminar," Reyes said.

She said that every student, teacher and non-teaching personnel should be given more detailed guidelines on how to fight SARS to prevent its spread.

Diño said campus surroundings should be constantly checked and students and school personnel wshould be vigilant to help contain the killer pneumonia.

Rosete said student leaders should be regularly updated by school administrators and DoH officials on the latest about SARS.

For SARS prevention, health experts ask the public to take 1,000 milligrams of Vitamin C and E daily, eat plenty of citrus foods, drink plenty of water, sleep early, exercise moderately, always wash hands, and change clothes upon getting home.