As swine flu scare rages
ANGARA EYES HEALTH CARE INNOVATIONS FOR RP

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today said that in order to propel the country to the raging revolution in health care we need to equip and empower our health care professionals and make health-care research a top priority in the national agenda, this is amid raging global swine flu scare.

"Developing countries, which often operate on a limited budget, cannot afford to support expensive health care facilities. A 2005 study published by the Global Health Forum showed that low- and middle-income countries accounted for around 3 percent of the $160.3 billion spent on global health research. In this regard, we can look at how India has turned such constraint into an advantage. Instead of developing pricey equipment, health-care innovations in India focus on making efficient use of resources and improving outcomes," said Angara who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance.

Innovations in medical research often come at a high price tag. The newly established Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, which spearheads the use of engineering and nanotechnology to treat cancer, was built through a $100-million donation from an alumnus.

He added, "Beating-heart surgery is an example of such innovation. Pioneered by Wockhardt, an Indian hospital chain, the procedure uses a device to stabilize a particular part of the heart that needs to be operated on, while the rest continues to pump blood. It does not make use of general anesthesia and blood thinners, and patients who undergo this procedure recover faster than those who underwent conventional heart surgery. The approach has thus attracted patients around the world to India's hospitals and boosted its thriving medical-tourism industry."

According to Nobel laureate Dr. Philip Sharp, the third revolution in health-care research has begun. Principles and techniques used in computer science, nanotechnology, in chemical, mechanical, and biological engineering are being employed in molecular-biology research, promising medicine and treatments for deadly diseases such as cancer.

Dr. Robert Langer's "cancer-smart bomb," for instance, has made use of cancer biology, pharmacology and engineering to develop a "nanocell" that targets only cancer cells and leaves healthy cells unscathed.

Angara, the main proponent of the PhilHealth Law, said that health-care research has become multifaceted and interdisciplinary. To top it all, the speed at how innovations are discovered is at its fastest in history. Dr. Sharp, who currently teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), notes that there are more drugs and treatments under development than ever before.

He cited that the first revolution in health-care research was triggered 55 years ago when DNA was discovered. The second was sparked by the decoding of the human-genome sequence 30 years ago.

"Experiences of other countries like India can teach us a lot. Like India, we face the challenge of providing health care to a growing population with diminishing resources. We also have an army of competent and talented health professionals waiting to be tapped. It is high time we equip and empower them, and make health-care research a top priority. Health research will enable our doctors to save lives, prevent and cure illnesses, and enhance the well-being of Filipinos. It will also propel the country to the raging revolution in health care," added Angara.

He also called on to concerned government agencies to be cautious in issuing warnings and policy directives regarding the swine flu scare, saying that we need to balance the scare's effect on Filipino health concerns and on the Philippine agricultural sector.

In the Senate, Angara recently filed Senate Bill 2592 which seeks to institutionalize the Philippine National Health Research System. The proposed Philippine National Health Research System will address current health problems by institutionalizing the Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS) and creating the Philippine National Health Research Fund (PNHRF) which will spur the country's health care research efforts.