It’s official: WHO removes RP from SARS list

The World Health Organization (WHO) removed the Philippines yesterday from the list of countries with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), boosting the country’s chance of containing the economic impact of the virus.

The United Nations health agency based its decision on a government declaration that it had no new SARS case for 20 days, or two incubation periods.

In its official website, the WHO noted that the last probable SARS case in the Philippines that was locally acquired was isolated on April 30.

"As 20 days have now passed with no further cases detected, WHO can significantly conclude that local transmission has been interrupted. The 20 days represent twice the maximum incubation period — a reliable indication, following established epidemiological principles, that a chain of transmission has been broken," WHO added.

Canada and Vietnam have also been delisted from the WHO SARS list after reporting no new case for 20 days.

"This is excellent news for the Philippines," WHO country representative Jean-Marc Olive said in a statement. "It’s a tribute to all the people who have worked so hard to prevent the disease (from) getting a hold here."

"It is now hoped that all travel restrictions imposed on the Philippines by other countries will be lifted," he said.

President Arroyo, who is in the United States for a state visit, made the official announcement to the Filipino nation in a live telecast of "Ang Pangulo sa Amerika" broadcast from the Williard Hotel in Washington.

"We’re now declared SARS-free," the President said, promising that the government will continue to enforce strict anti-SARS measures all over the country.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople instructed all posts abroad to immediately provide their host governments with a copy of the latest WHO advisory, which also clearly states that the WHO has never advised that travel to the Philippines be restricted.

He said there should be no reason for some labor-receiving countries to maintain their ban on Filipino workers.

"The latest WHO update is a tribute to the relentless efforts of the Department of Health in its campaign to contain and isolate the virus," Ople said. "We laud Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit and the DOH for the timely initiatives they have taken in the face of the SARS threat."

Dr. Consorcia Quizon, chief of the DOH’s National Epidemiology Center, also welcomed the WHO move. "At last, through a lot of hard work, we have achieved what we have been aiming for," she said.

She gave assurances though that the delisting would not cause the DOH to become complacent in the fight against SARS.

"This is just a battle won, not yet a victory. The challenge is to stay off the list. We’ll take no chance for any imported SARS case to come in and cause local transmission," she added.

Immediately after the WHO delisted the Philippines, Taiwan resumed issuing visas to travelers from the Philippines.

Taiwan suspended the service on April 27 as part of its measures to contain the spread of the virus in the territory.

Libya, Kuwait and Lebanon also banned Filipinos from entering their territory, citing the danger of SARS. Bahrain and Singapore had imposed similar bans but lifted them prior to the WHO announcement.

With this development, Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin also lifted the saying of obligatory prayers, which the Archdiocese imposed last April 26 to help mitigate the impact of SARS on the Filipino nation.

The special intercessory prayer was imposed by the Archdiocese all over the country, along with restrictions against kissing the images of Saints and receiving communion directly by mouth.

"Our prayers have been answered. Thanks be to God...We attribute this deliverance to the powerful intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe," said Cardinal Sin.

With the Philippines’ new SARS-free status, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Edgardo Manda, however, lamented that they have yet to collect the P1-billion fund set aside by the President for the anti-SARS campaign.

In a Senate hearing yesterday, Manda told legislators that they have to monitor 10,000 passengers who pass through the country’s gateway daily and he had to approve the use of corporate funds.

Senate President Pro Tempore Juan Flavier and Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. assailed the slow-paced government action on the matter.

Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations and one of the authors of the quarantine bill, revealed that up to this time, the memorandum of agreement between the DOH and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has not been drawn.

PCSO chairman Ma. Livia de Leon and general manager Rosario Uriarte, however, said that they have released P15 million to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) while another release of P100 million to the DOH is forthcoming for the immediate implementation of SARS-related projects. — With Marichu Villanueva, Jose Aravilla, Peter Quetulio, Pia Lee-Brago