The Department of Health needs P90 million to prepare for a possible outbreak of the influenza-A virus, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said. 

In a press conference at the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo on Friday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said the money will be used to purchase additional anti-viral drugs and protective equipment such as masks, and provide funds for hospitals if and when the infections reach the Philippines.

Duque said he has ordered the DOH Health Emergency and Management Office to draft a detailed budgetary requirement for the government's action on three modes--low, medium, high--of possible impact of the virus in the country.

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez, meanwhile, said the DOH can tap NDCC assets, including its P2-billion standby calamity fund, to prevent the spread of swine flu in the country

Golez said NDCC chair and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro has given Duque the authority to lead the government's preparation against the swine flu, which has reportedly killed nearly 200 people in Mexico.

"Every year, the NDCC has P2 billion as standby fund or calamity fund, for both natural and man-made disasters. This can be tapped by the DOH," Golez told ABS-CBN News Channel's Dateline Philippines.

Golez said President Arroyo has ordered the release of an initial P10 million fund for the purchase of additional 400,000 capsules of Oseltamivir or Tamiflu, an anti-viral drug used against influenza. The health department had said it has a stockpile of 600,000 capsules of Tamiflu.

He added that aside from the NDCC's standby fund, Duque can also use the agency's "communication system" from the highest level down to the barangay level.

No VIPs

Teodoro, meanwhile, told radio dzMM in an interview that airport and port inspectors have been told to strictly inspect and check all passengers entering the country, including VIPs.

"Entry points have to be strictly monitored. There will be no VIPs in the [thermal] scanning," he said.

He said government agencies under the NDCC have been ordered to go on the high alert after the World Health Organization's raised the swine flu alert level to 5.

Duque on Thursday announced that the government will quarantine a group of 300 pilgrims from the Philippines who went to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico when they return to the Philippines.

He said the government has asked the Mexican Embassy to release the names of the participants, a mix of various nationalities.

Phase 5 alert sends a signal to countries to ready the full implementation of their respective Pandemic Response Plans because there is now "human to human transmission of the virus causing sustained community outbreaks in at least two countries in one WHO region."
 
Seven more countries, aside from Mexico and the United States, confirmed cases of the novel swine influenza A (H1N1).