CEBU City – Cebu province is set to replicate Baguio City’s healthcare metrics and real-time disease tracking mechanism as a result of a knowledge-sharing agreement between the two cities.
Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro and Piso Health Consultant Dr. Elisse Nicole Catalan met with Baguio City health officials on Thursday (July 31) to set off a two-day training session with the delegation including Dr. Donnabel Panes, Baguio City’s epidemiologist, and members of the Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians (PSPHP), Dr. James de la Cruz, Dr. Juan Bernardo Lava and Dr. Miguel Tristan Rebalde.
The learning sessions covered Baguio’s tracking system that provides instant, granular data, enabling officials to pinpoint disease cases such as dengue down to specific households in real time.
Catalan said the setup can transform Cebu’s healthcare system, notably retrospective review and prospective planning, by optimizing the allocation of resources and manpower.
“This ensures that our decisions are evidence-based, not guesswork. We’ll know exactly where and when to deploy resources. With 16 hospitals to manage, optimizing resource allocation and improving emergency responses are crucial in health management and efficient service,” she said.
Catalan noted that Dr. Panes is a pioneer in real-time disease surveillance and evidence-based health governance prominent for her transformative work in public health monitoring.
Cebu is now studying how to replicate Baguio’s technology and health surveillance system and plans to invest in a real-time disease dashboard as part of the province’s broader healthcare modernization initiative.
Baricuatro and Catalan thanked Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong for his support in sending a health delegation to Cebu for the two-day interaction deemed as a significant step toward modernizing Cebu’s provincial health strategy through data-driven planning, rapid response capabilities, and inter-local cooperation.
