Loren welcomes EU offer of help on H1N1 virus

Senator Loren Legarda welcomed today an offer made by the European Union (EU) to help the Philippines in the event of an outbreak of the dreaded swine flu or Influenza A (H1N1) virus in the country.

Appointed as the United Nations disaster risk reduction champion for the Asia-Pacific region, Loren urged the government to communicate early with the EU so that the channels of cooperation on emergency response would already be open when needed.

"While the Philippines has yet to have a single case of the virus, we should be pro-active in getting all the available help from other nations, including this pledge of assistance from the EU," Loren said.

Sasa Borko, policy officer of the European Commission's directorate-general for Environment Civil Protection, said that the EU's civil protection mechanism can be adapted to deal with potential pandemics like H1N1.

The Philippines, along with 26 other countries, concluded yesterday a five-day response exercises to counter the possible outbreak of the virus, among other emergencies.

"The exercises were not particularly focused on the swine flu issue. But some of the capabilities presented could potentially be used for any disasters, including a pandemic," Borko said.

"We're always prepared to assist upon the request by any country in the world, including the Philippine government, and we have a lot of capabilities," she added.

Loren noted that the EU disaster assistance team had aided the government in confirming the large quantities of pesticides and other toxic chemicals that leaked from the capsized MV Princess of the Stars.

Ms. Borko led a team of experts from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Norway and Sweden that showcased the EU's disaster preparedness model dubbed Civil Protection Mechanism.

"The Philippines should look into the EU model and, if applicable, adopt it along with our Southeast Asian neighbors. The setting up of an emergency response mechanism is very important in disaster risk reduction, whether natural, man-made or due to the breakout of diseases," said Loren.