ThE UP College of Pharmacy’s efforts during the COVID-19 crisis include monitoring of students, volunteer work, donation drive, and information dissemination.

The constituents, through the Student Relations Officer (SRO) and UPPhA Student Council, College Executive Committee, and program advisers jointly communicate and continuously monitor the welfare and overall wellness of the students. The SRO then seeks advice from the Office of Student Affairs for student concerns. 

Several faculty members became part of the UP-PGH Bayanihan Na! Operations Center (BNOC). Some of them joined the Volunteer Management Team tasked with creating and implementing the online database to manage the schedule of shifts, accommodation, and  transportation of the BNOC volunteers. Other faculty members, together with some alumni and students, volunteered as call center agents for patient and donation queries. 

Some alumni also extended assistance by volunteering in Ask Your Pharmacist!, an online pharmacist consultation for healthcare professionals and patients initiated by the Philippine Pharmacists Association (PPhA).
The faculty and admin staff initiated a fund drive for the janitors and guards in the college to sustain them for the duration of the community quarantine. PPEs were donated to PGH and NIH. The UP College of Pharmacy Alumni Association, Inc. and the UP Pharmacy Alumni Foundation, Inc. launched a donation drive for the BNOC to purchase PPEs and other supplies needed by PGH. In addition, the alumni also donated refrigerator thermometers to UP-NIH for monitoring the temperature conditions of the samples for COVID-19 testing. 

Student organizations also took part by providing COVID-19-related infographics shared through their respective social networking sites. 

Czarina Dominique Rodriguez  |  Published in Healthscape Special COVID-19 Issue No. 4