DOH, NHSC collaborate on standards development for Philippine CDC

In collaboration with the Department of Health, NICE International is in Manila this week for a knowledge exchange on Clinical Practice Guideline Development.

Gearing towards the establishment of the Philippine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health (DOH), the British Embassy Manila and the United Kingdom’s National Health Service Consortium for Global Health (NHSC) - represented by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) - met and discussed collaborative efforts on October 18-19, 2022 on the development of policies, programs, standards, guidelines, and monitoring and evaluation systems on the forecasting, prevention, and control of diseases, injuries, and disabilities of national and international concern. This is the first of the multiple learning exchanges in collaboration with the UK and the NHS Consortium this year, focusing on health systems strengthening and health policy development.

During his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revived the call for the creation of a Center for Disease Control and a Virology Institute in the country. Towards this, the DOH is working with several national and international partners, to facilitate the development of better strategies for improved evidence-based policy making once the measure is enacted into law.

The Universal Health Care Law set the stage for the CDC by mandating the DOH to ensure the quality of health services through the development of evidence-based public health and clinical care standards. The DOH established the National Practice Guidelines Program (NPGP) to oversee and manage the development, adoption, and dissemination of clinical practice guidelines, which will guide rational prioritization, service delivery, and financing of standards of care, which contribute to the overall vision of a Healthy Pilipinas.