Category: MANILA

The delivery of locally developed COVID-19 real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test kits is finally moving after getting the nod from the Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

According to the weekly report of President Rodrigo Duterte to Congress, which was released on Monday, medical research company Manila HealthTek will be coordinating with hospitals that would receive the GenAmplify COVID-19 detection kits for proper training of their workers on using the test kits.

The GenAmplify kits, developed by local scientists from the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) and the University of the Philippines (UP)-National Institutes of Health (NIH), would serve around 27,000 tests.

The creation of the National Training Center for Biosafety and Biosecurity (NTCBB) under the National Institutes of Health was approved by the UP Board of Regents on February 22, 2018.  The NTCBB becomes the 11th component institute of the NIH, along with three centers and more than 40 study groups.  With the approval of the Center, the BOR also approved the creation of the National Biosafety Framework that covers aspects of both biosafety and biosecurity.

The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) is proud to have achieved cutting-edge technologies, with most of its departments being declared as “centers of excellence’ because of its well-trained doctors and with the funding assistance from the government and the private sector.

The Biotek-M Kit, developed by UP Manila for early detection and management of dengue, is one of the products proposed by DOST to be used to curb the rise of dengue cases.

Sitting in the UP College of Medicine’s Department of Anatomy, Dr. Rafael Bundoc began by explaining how a big part of his mission was to change the attitudes of Filipinos when it comes to spine surgery. Spread out in front of the orthopedic surgeon as he spoke were his tools — silver streamlined instruments of various lengths. These instruments, and how to use them, held the key to the future of his discipline in the country, Bundoc said.

As part of its campaign to promote wellness for women, the HARI Foundation, Inc. (HFI), the corporate social responsibility arm of Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), recently conducted the first breast cancer medical mission of the ‘Alagang Breastfriend’ mobile diagnostic clinic.

A research team led by Emmanuel Baja of the National Institutes for Health-University of the Philippines Manila found that being exposed to black carbon and heavy metals while on duty along EDSA, where hundreds of thousands of vehicles travel daily, affects traffic enforcers’ blood pressure and lung function.

As the illegal narcotics trade in the country continues to thrive, the University of the Philippines (UP) has stepped forward as a new and unlikely partner of President Duterte in his war on drugs.

On Monday, UP Manila inaugurated its state-of-the-art Drugs of Abuse Research Laboratory (DARL), which boasts technology that can identify and analyze so-called designer drugs, or those not previously known to the government.