A legislator from the Bicol region on Thursday called on the Food and Drug Administration to hasten its emergency use approval for retrovirals for COVID-19, such as molnupiravir.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, said restoring normalcy to the economy “will now depend on how quickly and easily we can treat this disease, not necessarily on preventing every infection.”
“COVID-19 will almost certainly be a seasonal disease, if the experts are correct. The way to deal with this is to make COVID-19 an extremely curable, very normal disease with cheap at-home treatment,” Salceda said.
“Recently, the economic managers have said that the approach must now shift from pandemic to endemic. That involves a shift from mobility restrictions that try to completely prevent any infection, to an approach that treats COVID-19 as a very normal, as normal as getting a flu.”
“That involves making sure that we have the retrovirals, the treatment pills, widely available for use,” he added.
Salceda added that “recent retrovirals have been ‘gamechangers’ to use the Health Department’s own declarations, even when the EUAs have not yet been granted.”
“I expect more retrovirals to be developed as the other companies try to get in on the action.”
Meanwhile, Salceda also called on the Senate to approve the charter of the Virology Institute of the Philippines, a presidential priority with a budget in the GAA 2022, and which was also principally authored by Salceda.
“I am calling on the Senate to approve the charter of the VIP. This is an urgent measure identified by President Duterte, along with the creation of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention,” Salceda said.
“Having a Virology Institute ensures that we are ready for human pandemics. It will also help us develop and manufacture retrovirals and antivirals of our own,” Salceda added.
The campus of the VIP will be established in New Clark City. The measure was identified as a priority by President Duterte in his 2021 State of the Nation Address.
