Anakalusugan Rep. and Quezon City mayoral bet Michael “Mike” Defensor led the groundbreaking rites for the new national training and research hub for respiratory infectious diseases inside the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP) in Quezon City.
“There’s no question that the new center will further build up the LCP’s capacity to respond more aggressively to future pandemics,” Defensor said.
“The LCP was Quezon City’s main referral center for severely and critically ill patients at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.
Defensor mobilized donations of additional medical equipment and supplies for the LCP and other public as well as private hospitals in Quezon City soon after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic in March 2020.
“We intend to suppress the sudden rise in TB (tuberculosis) cases following the disruption in the delivery of TB prevention, testing, and treatment services due to the pandemic,” he said.
A previous modeling study had warned that over 100,000 Filipinos may die of TB over the next five years on account of the pandemic-related interruptions in health services.
“We already have the highest TB incidence rate in Asia, with 554 cases for every 100,000 Filipinos,” Defensor said.