Preparing for the next pandemic

By Kathrina Charmaine Alvarez

A virus believed to have originated from a live animal from a seafood market in Wuhan, China has caused the spread of a contagious disease killing more than a million people worldwide.

Researchers and scientists scrambled to figure out the characteristics of the virus, which was later identified as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Quickly spreading across the globe, the coronavirus exhausted health care systems, caused closure of international borders, paralyzed business productivity and economic activity, and served as a wake-up call to all nations.

“Viruses are fast-evolving and we need to cope,” says Dr. Rowena Cristina L. Guevara, Undersecretary for Research and Development at the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The DOST is proposing the creation of a Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines or VIP, similar to the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The VIP will serve as the country’s premier research and development institute in the field of virology, encompassing all areas in viruses and viral diseases that affect not only humans, but also plants and animals. It will also be a venue for scientists and researchers to collaborate on studies and programs that are of agricultural, industrial, clinical, and environmental importance.

“Currently, no institution in the Philippines focuses on diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccine development against viruses,” Guevarra explains. “With the rise in the number of viral diseases, especially those that infect both animals and humans, it is important to

have our state-of-the-art research center dedicated to virology. The VIP will focus on these important viruses to immediately address and forecast future outbreaks in the Philippines, while also building the expertise of Filipino researchers in the field of virology.”

The DOST eyes to start the construction of the virology institute by 2021, with the completion of the project expected by September 2023. The institute is already included in the government’s list of infrastructure flagship projects.

Pandemic readiness

In the Philippines, the deadly COVID-19 has infected more than 400,000 people, and has claimed at least 8,000 lives. Despite the strict health protocols and the government’s efforts to ensure public safety as the economy is slowly being reopened, the nation cannot help but feel a collective sense of helplessness.

There is hope, however, with the virus vaccines seen to be available to Filipinos by 2021 or early 2022. These vaccines to be imported from at least three drug makers will be made available first to the healthcare workers, poorest of the poor, and the most vulnerable sectors.

When the VIP becomes operational, Filipinos would have easier and cheaper access to vaccines.

“Our country will drastically increase our pandemic readiness,” says Guevarra “The Filipino people will have access to cheaper, home-grown technologies in the form of diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines. The country needs diagnostics to detect and limit the spread of this virus, vaccines to provide long-term protection, therapeutics, or treatments to save lives in the shorterterm, and social science to understand the behavioral and societal implications.”

The DOST official emphasizes, “With a population of 106 million spread across an archipelago with several large urban centers, we need to be able to protect our people, our biodiversity, and our economy with a virology institute that can quickly respond to biological emergencies.”

The virology institute is proposed to be set up in New Clark City, a sustainable and resilient metropolis, located north of Manila.

The VIP will have a Greenhouse Laboratory Building, a Biosafety Level 3 and Level 4 Buildings, an Animal Laboratory, Lecture Hall and Meeting Rooms, and a two-storey dormitory. The infrastructure will follow guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO) in relation to establishing virology laboratories in developing countries.

New Clark City’s resilience

Asked why the DOST chose New Clark City as the location for the virology institute, Guevarra says: “New Clark City is not an urban area, the location is not busy and not congested.”

New Clark City’s resilience is also one of the major considerations for DOST and other government agencies seeking to locate their offices in the new metropolis. For one, New Clark City’s elevation is 60 meters above sea level, as compared to Metro Manila’s five meters. It is also surrounded by mountain ranges, which naturally serve as buffers that reduce the impact of strong typhoons in the Central Luzon area. In terms of the threat of destruction caused by earthquakes, New Clark City is approximately 19 kilometers away from the nearest fault line located east of Zambales.

“Resiliency was the major characteristic that we wanted for New Clark City to have,” says Secretary Vince Dizon, President and CEO of BCDA and concurrent Deputy Chief Implementer of the government’s National Action Plan Against COVID-19.

“The pandemic has highlighted that [with] the use of facilities over the past couple of months in the major response efforts.”

New Clark City was one of the first few locations, which responded to the COVID-19 pandemic early on when it opened the Athletes’ Village as a quarantine facility for returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Its National Government Administrative Center is also being used by the government to treat COVID-positive patients with mild symptoms and those who are asymptomatic.

If there’s one thing to take away from the COVID pandemic, it’s that we should heavily invest in public health infrastructure today to prepare for the possibilities of tomorrow.