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TESTS. Mandaluyong City health workers collect specimen samples after a COVID-19 test on April 16, 2020. Photo by Darren Langit / Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday, May 14 said that 12 hospitals in the Philippines are part of the solidarity trial of the World Health Organization, a pioneering program that aims to find a cure for COVID-19 .
DOH said 81 patients from these local hospitals are currently part of the program. (READ: How can the Philippines get enough medicines or vaccines against coronavirus?)
In a previous statement on April 22, DOH Undersecretary María Rosario Vergeire said that while there was no known “magic drug” or cure for COVID-19, there was an urgency to find effective treatment.
“The drugs included in this trial have not been largely tested against the SARS-COV 2 virus that causes COVID-19, and stronger data is needed,” said Vergeire.
According to the WHO, the solidarity test provides “simplified procedures to allow even overburdened hospitals to participate, without the need for paperwork.”
The organization also said that as of April 21, more than 100 countries are working together to find effective therapies as soon as possible, through the trial.
Vaccines for the coronavirus that other countries are developing will take between 6 and 12 months or even 1 and 1/2 years to be ready for commercial use. (READ: Coronavirus Medications: Who’s Doing What and When They Might Come)
Here is the list of experimental drugs used for clinical trials in the Philippines and in other countries:
- Antiviral remdesivir
- antimalarial drug chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine
- antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV Lopinavir with ritonavir
- Interferon beta-1a medicine used to treat multiple sclerosis
Below is the list of participating hospitals and the number of patients in each institution.
- Makati Medical Center: 19 patients
- Philippine General Hospital: 14 patients
- Philippine Lung Center: 13 patients
- The medical city: 10 patients
- Universidad de Oriente Ramon Magsaysay Medical Center: 5 patients
- Manila Medical Center: 5 patients
- Santos Cardinal Medical Center: 4 patients
- Asian hospital and medical center: 4 patients
- San Lázaro Hospital: 3 patients
- St Luke’s Medical Center-Quezon City: 2 patients
- St Luke’s Medical Center-Global: 1 patient
- Manila Doctors Hospital: 1 patient
As of Thursday, the Philippines recorded 11,876 cases of coronavirus infections, with 790 deaths and 2,337 recoveries. – Rappler.com
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