MDH Advisory on SARS

Public Notice

May 5, 2003

To all our MDH Clients (Internal and External):

On the matter of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the top management of MDH would like to make the following pronouncements:

1. MDH is on top of the situation. MDH anticipated the entry of SARS in the Philippines as early as March 28, 2003. On that day, it formulated general policies and guidelines on the management of SARS patients in MDH. An MDH Task Force SARS has been in place since April 2, 2003. It has been meeting almost every week since April 4, 2003 up to the present.

2. To protect our patients and the staff, MDH will NOT admit and will NOT accept referral of any patient with SARS Suspect, with Probable SARS, more so, with Confirmed SARS. Upon detection, these patients will be referred as soon as possible to DOH-designated SARS centers, specifically, Research Institute of Tropical Medicine in Alabang and San Lazaro Hospital in Manila.

3. Please bear with inconveniences resulting from the stringent precautionary measures against SARS being implemented in MDH. For any assistance, queries and suggestions, please see our Public Relations Officer.

4. There is presently a different form and more dangerous type of SARS spreading in the country. As somebody has coined it, it is Sensationalism And Reckless Storytelling. This is causing harm and chaos to all the efforts of government and non-government institutions to manage the real medical SARS in the country. In this regards, the top management of MDH has formulated the following policies and procedures:

a. MDH will be transparent in declaring whether it has admitted a patient with SARS or not.

b. Only Dr. Melecia Velmonte and Dr. Cecilia Montalban, who are our MDH Consultants on SARS, are the only persons authorized to declare whether MDH has admitted a patient with SARS or not.

c. If a patient with SARS has been admitted, a written declaration will be made as soon as possible and placed at the hospital entrance.

d. In the absence of such a written declaration, all forms of storytelling that SARS is present in MDH will be considered reckless and acts of sabotage. Appropriate actions will be taken against all rumor-mongerings and saboteurs.

5. There is presently confusion and chaos going on as to the best way to prevent SARS such as wearing masks or not, what type of masks, vaccination, antibiotics, vitamins, just healthy habits and lifestyle, etc. MDH has its own policies and procedures on SARS prevention which are based on evidences, DOH and WHO recommendations, and in considerations of cost-effectiveness and practicality.

6. For detailed information on MDH efforts to prevent and control SARS, please visit http://xsarsmdh.tripod.com, view the MDH Advisory on SARS in a bulletin board in the hospital, or contact our public relations officer. The MDH top management is more than willing to share its best hospital practices in the prevention and control of SARS to interested institutions and persons.

MDH Management

May 2, 2003