An online conference aimed at presenting to the stakeholders the initial draft of the ethics 19 guidelines for Covid 19 hospital care that was organized by UP Manila and UP Diliman faculty members was held on April 3, 2020.
The guidelines are intended to serve as a reference for health care facility administrators, clinicians, as well as affected patients and their families in the current COVID-19 epidemic. The stakeholders in attendance represented different sectors and groups and were those fully involved in the process of drafting the guidelines that will be used by the UP Manila Development Foundation, Inc (UPMDFI).
The UPMDFI aims to produce interim ethical guidelines and a general framework for healthcare institutions and facilities managing COVID19 patients and persons under investigation (PUI) and addressing the following domains:
1. Ethics in the triage, admission, and allocation of critical care resources for suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients;
2. Ethics in the administration of drugs for off-label use in a fatal pandemic scenario brought about by COVID-19;
3. Ethics in rendering resuscitation for COVID-19 patients in cardiopulmonary arrest;
4. Guidance (if not template) for advanced directives for COVID-19 patients;
5. Ethics in the disposal of the bodies and organs of the dead who got sick of COVID19; and
6. Ethics in conducting research and clinical trials in the context of COVID-19 critical care.
In her message, UP Manila Chancellor Carmencita Padilla emphasized the integral role of ethics in research. She stressed the urgency of finalizing the guidelines at this time when the Covid 19 pandemic is wreaking havoc in the life of the country and our people.
“As the Health Sciences Center, UP Manila is being looked up to to take the lead in looking for solutions and to carry a significant part of the burden in terms of patient care. We are answering these calls in collaboration with the government and the private sector,” she stated.
The UP Manila chancellor cited measures taken by UP Manila in response to the Covid 19 pandemic, such as accepting the Department of Health’s designation of the Philippine General Hospital as one of the Covid 19 referral centers, development of a local testing kit for the virus and getting the testing kits ready for widespread use and creation of the PGH Bayanihan Na! Covid 19 Operations Center that was launched on March 30, 2020.
“As we work together to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, difficult decisions have to be made that may raise ethical issues and concerns on varied aspects of care. Already, we are hearing of countries and specific communities facing delicate situations, such as rationing limited health care resources, imposing restrictions to individual movement and liberties, and upholding professional duty to treat in the face of personal danger.”
At present, health professionals and other frontline workers rely on their own day-to-day experiences and knowledge generated from different sources in managing cases. The past three months have witnessed the difficulties they endure in managing Covid 19 cases, such as inadequate Personal Protective Equipment, long and continued hours of work due to a reduction in their ranks by deaths and positive cases of Covid 19, an overly burdened and weak health system, and discrimination. These conditions put the healthcare workers under massive physical, mental, and emotional stress.
The forum served as a venue for the proponents of the study to generate inputs and ideas for the revision and finalization of the guidelines for Covid 19 hospital care. The presentation of the draft guidelines was followed by a panel discussion and open forum with the stakeholders.
Cynthia Villamor | Published in UP Manila Healthscape Issue 378
