SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union (PIA) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently accredited the Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center (ITRMC) here as the first subnational laboratory (SNL) on measles and rubella in North Luzon, which thus increased the hospital’s public health function and scope.
With this accreditation, the hospital can now cater to the laboratory testing needs of neighboring provinces and even of regions adjacent to La Union, according to Dr. Eduardo M. Badua III, Medical Center Chief II of the ITRMC.
“Our neighboring provinces and regions can now send samples here for us to determine the presence of viruses,” Badua said.
Samples will no longer be sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Manila for laboratory tests, lessening expenses and time to check the presence of viruses in the samples.
Accreditation is the first step toward the hospital’s goal of increasing its testing capacity to include more viruses.
“We have a very good molecular laboratory… an AIA [acid-insoluble ash] determination machine that identifies antigens and antibodies, and we are the only one in extreme Northern Luzon that has this capability,” Badua added.
The accreditation allows the hospital to determine the presence of viruses that are vaccine-preventable and ease the burden for patients with illnesses who have missed their vaccines to protect them from diseases.
The ITRMC joins six other hospitals throughout the country that have taken steps to comply with the requisite laboratory capabilities to be accredited by the WHO.
ITRMC is one of the first few hospitals to be given accreditation after being found to have enough space, trained staff, management support, biosafety, equipment, cooperation with epidemiology staff, and a readily available database to input measles and rubella information.
“It took us about a year to comply with all the requirements. Our staff underwent training, and our equipment units were updated and recalibrated until the WHO came to evaluate our readiness for accreditation,” Badua said.
A virology laboratory is also being constructed within the ITRMC premises as an additional help in the hospital’s fight against infectious diseases.
Nora G. Villanueva, a resident of Agoo, La Union, expressed her excitement over the recent accreditation of the ITRMC and said she believed that this milestone would result in faster laboratory testing for measles and rubella cases.
“I am happy that La Union now has a hospital that can detect these cases. Development in health here in our province is always welcome,” Villanueva said.
Data from the Department of Health (DOH) shows a total of 2,552 measles-rubella cases from January 1 to May 11, 2024, with 2,114, or 84 percent, consisting of children under 10 years of age. (AMB/CCMT/PIA La Union)
