Press Release
June 19, 2009

As H1N1 continue to spread in the country
Angara eyes more funding for health and research

As of June 19, 344 cases of swine flu are confirmed to be in the Philippines, says Department of Health (DOH). Senator Edgardo J. Angara urges for a stronger and effective measure in this fight against A H1N1 virus.

"The increasing rate of H1N1 infection has reached the country tremendously and now attacking schools and threatening the youth, if we can not suspend classes until the virus leaves our premise or at least until we can ensure its locking we must provide better prevention to avoid the spread," said Angara.

He added, " We cannot allow this to linger even more, there's also other deadly diseases like dengue and all of which should be attended effectively, health experts must discover cures and solutions to this emerging virus, it will not just go away and we must be at least one-step ahead in fighting it."

In preparation for the 2010 budget Angara eyes for more funding for health and research institute that will equip our country better in situations like this. More over, Philippine National Health Research System will build capabilities for health research and development activities and encourage individuals to pursue research as a career; ensure public access to the information and other outputs generated by the health research system and encourage the utilization of research results in the form of products, technologies, programs and services.

Angara said that more than anything the swine flu outbreak emphasizes the need to invest in public health infrastructure, both to prevent and battle swine flu. Further, Angara cited that it underlines the need for concerted cooperation among health units all over the country, so that they may readily detect and deliver swift and quality treatment to patients suspected to have the disease.

"Very often during periods of austerity, we see cutbacks in public spending in healthcare. The swine flu outbreak should make us rethink this bias against health spending, and highlight the imperative of providing access to healthcare to Filipinos. A good measure of a society's level of civilization is how it treats its members' health," said Angara.

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