RP to be removed from list of SARS-infected countries — DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) is expecting the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland to strike off the Philippines from its list of SARS-infected countries today.

Dr. Consorcia Lim-Quizon, head of the DOH’s National Epidemiology Center, said Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit, who is attending the World Health Assembly in Geneva, has reported that the WHO headquarters was "amenable" to declaring the country free from SARS.

"We expect WHO to announce the decision day, the earliest time, or on Thursday at the latest, because Geneva is behind by six hours," Quizon said, adding that when the WHO makes the declaration, the travel advisories issued against the Philippines will be lifted "automatically."

Several countries have banned entry of Filipinos while others have issued travel advisories against the Philippines for fear of being infected with the dreaded disease.

Quizon, however, assured that "when we are delisted, it will benefit our labor and tourism industry."

Quizon also stressed that declaring the Philippines as SARS-free will inspire other countries still on the WHO’s list of SARS-infected countries to curb the infection.

"The most important thing here is that we can show the world, as Vietnam did, that we can control the epidemic. If Vietnam was able to do it, we will also be able to do it and so with the other countries. So globally, we can fight SARS," she noted.

Also yesterday, Turkey said it has taken the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam off the list of countries that Turkish citizens are advised not to travel to due to SARS.

In an earlier interview, WHO country representative Jean Marc Olive also assured that the country has a "good chance" of being delisted from its roster of SARS-affected countries because there was no reported local transmission of SARS for the past 20 days.

Olive added that SARS was "well-contained" in the Philippines and there was no need to issue travel advisories against the country.

Meanwhile, the Finnish national who was quarantined in Finland for manifesting SARS symptoms after arriving from the Philippines "was most likely not a SARS case."

According to Quizon, the patient has responded to antibiotic treatment and therefore cannot possibly be suffering from SARS.

"When they started him on antibiotic, he became afebrile (without fever). He responded to antibiotic so that means (it) is not SARS," she explained.

Quizon maintained that when the WHO reclassifies the Philippines as SARS-free, those coming from the country and had fever will not be automatically put in quarantine abroad.

As this developed, Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. yesterday called for the immediate release of the P1 billion fund the national government has earmarked for the anti-SARS campaign.

"The government must not waste time in releasing the funds necessary to help our health officials contain the spread of SARS in the country," he said.

Villar, who filed a quarantine bill to address the SARS problem, welcomed the news that the WHO might declare the Philippines as SARS-free today.

The senator said it would enable the government to convince foreign countries to lift the ban on overseas Filipino workers and to change their travel advisories against the Philippines. — With AFP