The House committee on appropriations approved on Friday House Bill 6096 or the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Act, which seeks to establish an agency that will take the lead in handling infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The proposed CDC Act, listed as priority legislation in the 2020 State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, was also approved by the House committee on health on March 5.
The Department of Health expressed its support for the bill earlier this month.
The bill was filed in January 2020, before the COVID-19 outbreak in the Philippines.
Its author, Representative Jose Ma. Clemente S. Salceda, who also chairs the ways and means committee, said in a statement that he expects the bill to be signed this year as “the Senate has begun committee discussions on the bill…(and) (w)ith plenary approval looming in the House.”
The CDC is proposed as a separate agency supervised by the Health Emergency Coordinating Council, with the health secretary as its chair.
Mr. Salceda said the mandate of the Philippine CDC must be focused on fighting infectious diseases as health crises are “not just a doctor’s specialty anymore.”
“There are health crises where cases have the potential to escalate in numbers and scope very quickly, and where coordinated efforts at containment and treatment are required immediately. That will often include law enforcement, community management, and a whole swathe of other disciplines. So, we need a more holistic public health preparedness and response framework,” he said. – Bianca Angelica D. Anago