By Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go

CONGRESS has recently allocated P100 million for the deployment of a National Telehealth System. It is about time we do this because the technology is available and its application in health care can improve the health status, indicators and track the outcomes. It addresses the various health inequities that we currently observe.

Telehealth may be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the telephone as a referral or mentoring call, or as complex as using satellite technology and video-conferencing equipment to conduct a real-time consultation between medical specialists in two different locations.

Telemedicine is a general term for the use of communications and information technologies for the delivery of clinical care.

Telehealth addresses the lack of human health resources in remote areas. It can bring limited clinical expertise to areas where the expertise absent and is badly needed to save lives. Furthermore, the system can save cost of travel and unnecessary expenditures in poverty stricken areas or in facilities with inadequate expertise.

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By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—The Congressional Commission on Science & Technology and Engineering (Comste) is looking at filing a bill to mandate a national telehealth or telemedicine system in the country.

Representative Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya who is also co-chair of Comste is set to file the National Telehealth Service Act of 2009 to push the use of information and communication technologies in the delivery of medical care.

The proposed measure aims to benefit patients and medical professionals who can now use Internet technology to tap medical expertise. This could be done through remote medical procedures via teleconferencing.

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By Dennis Posadas*
Contributor

THE Philippines held a National R&D Conference at the University of the Philippines last December 2008 to try to synergize its research and development (R&D) efforts in science and technology, particularly in the government. The conference involved most of the government departments and state colleges and universities that have R&D programs.

At present, like in most countries, R&D budgets are scattered across many government R&D units and agencies. Getting these agencies and their staff to work together can sometimes be a gargantuan undertaking.

In a December 2008 article in the Washington D.C. based journal Science, the Philippines was reported to have spent $81million in R&D in 2007, and this spending has remained basically the same throughout the last decade. This amount represents roughly 0.14% of GDP, a far cry from that of developed countries which often reaches 2%, and is also less than its regional neighbors like Thailand (0.26%) and Malaysia (0.69%). Worse, this amount is not a homogenous figure but is actually the sum total of government R&D spending scattered across many departments and agencies.

In a country colonized by Spain and the United States, where the saying goes that it went through “three hundred years of the Church and fifty years of Hollywood,” the normal mode of operation is to take the allocation from the national budget, and in a laizzez faire manner, do whatever one institution or department pleases in R&D.

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Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

A NEW rodent species discovered in May 2006 in Mt. Hamiguitan in Davao Oriental needs a wider area of habitat, researchers said.

Currently, the Batomys hamiguitan or the Hamiguitan hairy-tailed rat lives in the Mt. Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, which is 6,834 hectares in total surface area. However, this sanctuary is adjacent to seven Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSA) also in Mt. Hamiguitan which cover 17,572 hectares, which is half of the mountain’s cover.

Leonilo Rivera, DENR Protected Area and Wildlife Division Chief of Region XI, said that expanding the protected area will take some time.

However, Edwin Domingo, assistant director of DENR Mines and Geosciences Bureau, clarified that there is no mining activity yet in Mt. Hamiguitan.

“We don’t have any conflict with [the] protected area. Normally, pinag-aaway kami [they let us fight]. Any and all protected and critical areas proclaimed as watershed are closed to mining applications, so if by chance, nagsubmit ka sa amin ng [you submit an] application, and we find out when we double check that you’re encroaching in this, we have to tell you that you have to [take] that out,” said Domingo.

Domingo said the mining applications have already existed prior to the proposal to make the area a protected area.

“It is not up to us in the DENR to make that categorical statement because in the NIPAS [National Integrated Protected Areas System] law, there is a procedural guideline. There is a process for consultation. We are not in the position to say, yes or no,” said Domingo when asked on their action on the requested expansion of the protected area.

Republic Act 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System NIPAS law protects “outstandingly remarkable areas and biologically important public lands that are habitats of rare and endangered species of plants and animals representative of bio-geographic zones and related ecosystems.”

Through Republic Act 9303, Mt. Hamiguitan was declared as a protected area under the category of wildlife sanctuary in July 2004.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, Mt. Hamiguitan includes at least 11 endangered vertebrate species.

“We are requesting the Protected Area Management Board to consider expanding the current protected to cover the majority of the habitat of the rare and restricted Hamiguitan hairy-tailed rat,” said Jayson Ibañez, coordinator of the field research program of the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF).

Researchers from the US-based Field Museum of Natural History discovered the Hamiguitan hairy-tailed rat during an expedition in the Davao region.

Researchers along with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the PEF collected specimens from Mt. Hamiguitan and conducted a biodiversity survey that led to the discovery of the new species.

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Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

Is your school engaged in green and eco-friendly activities?

All public and private elementary, high school, and colleges are encouraged to join the National Search for Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Schools.

The competition is the response of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to Republic Act 9512, which is a law promoting environmental awareness through education.

“With their efforts recognized, we can encourage students, faculty and school administrators to adopt and promote eco-friendly practices in their schools, homes and communities,” DENR Secretary Jose Lito Atienza said.

Interested schools are required to submit a brief description of their environmental project in line with the theme, “Sustainable and Eco-friendly Initiatives.” Only one entry per school will be accepted.

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