Bird flu in Philippines

The Republic of the Philippines - island nation situated in the Malay archipelago (Southeast Asia). The 7,107 islands (only 700 of which are inhabited) are located 1,210 kilometers away from mainland Asia. Relying mostly on agriculture for its economy, the country has recently become an important destination for outsourcing and is an important exporter of electronics and labor force.

Philippines fear illegal bird imports could spread disease

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006

Philippine’s Department of Agriculture, by its Bureau of Animal Industry, has issued warnings that the smuggling of poultry and poultry products could help spread the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus. The announcement was made after some reports stated that the smuggling of exotic birds and poultry products from Indonesia’s North Sulawesi and Kalimantan provinces was intensifying in the southern Philippines. Indonesia is having real difficulties in fighting the disease so agriculture officials in the South of the Philippines have asked for assistance from the Coast Guard, Customs Office and Port Authority to closely monitor the poultry products being introduced into the country. Unlike other Asian countries, the Philippines has recorded no bird flu case in the last 3 years.

Posted in Philippines

PhilHealth policies updated to cover bird flu

Monday, July 3rd, 2006

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation has updated its service package to cover bird flu and influenza pandemic in its “SARS” category. PhilHealth’s benefit was expanded to cover avian influenza type A viruses or any other newly developed strains of the virus that have not been dealt with so far. The decision is included in the company’s Board Resolution No. 880.

The Department of Health has drawn up a list of hospitals designated as Avian Flu and Influenza Pandemic hospitals and in the case of PhilHealth members admitted to those, they can request a benefit of 50,000 Philippine Pessos per case. The sum is doubled is the patient is a health care workers in the same hospitals, if the person contracted the disease while caring for an avian flu victim.

Posted in Philippines