Public health in the new normal: Shared learning for pandemic response

It is difficult to believe that we have been in this pandemic for over a year. But 2020 has marked a commendable, collective effort across all countries to support health systems in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. The last half of the year, in particular, has seen an unprecedented pace and breadth of cooperation to develop and roll-out safe and effective vaccines – which, collectively, have been administered to over 7 billion people worldwide to date.

In parallel to the immense progress on vaccines, the pandemic has also continued to underscore the need to support local health systems to manage long-term pandemic response while continuing to protect vulnerable groups and those most at-risk of COVID-19. Persistent public health challenges – non-communicable disease, malnutrition, vaccine-preventable diseases and maternal mortality, among many others – continue to put millions of lives at risk, with a vast majority of resources focused on pandemic response and vaccine procurement.

The pandemic has also presented a unique challenge for collaboration: How do we foster meaningful connection and encourage more active exchange of ideas in a time of required physical distancing? The British Embassy Manila has been working with the University of the Philippines College of Public Health since 2019 through the UK’s Better Health Program; this partnership has enabled shared learning between the UK and the Philippines on public health and encouraged a multi-disciplinary approach to support the strengthening of local health systems.

In response to the emerging demands of COVID-19, we recalibrated our approach to extend shared learning to the public. Launched in October 2020, “Public Health in the Time of COVID-19 and the New Normal” has been a series of online webinars for health workers covering major public health concerns guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals and in direct response to the emerging public health gaps underlined by COVID-19.

Covering 16 webinars organized by all seven of the UP CPH’s academic departments, the online learning exchange has allowed us to reach over 10,000 virtual attendees and livestream views from across the Philippines, ASEAN and the UK. These included four sessions under the UK-Philippines Vaccine Clinic which engaged with the Department of Health and the Inter Agency Task Force of the Philippines alongside their counterparts from the UK Vaccines Taskforce, the Special Advisory Group for Emergencies and the NHS.

Aligned with the UK’s multilateral approach in responding to the challenges of COVID-19, the College of Public Health’s role as the Regional Center of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network (SEAMEO TROPMED), has been key in enabling collaborative global linkages with the World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Population Fund, Asian Development Bank and the Regional Center for Food and Nutrition.

Echoing the Philippine government’s “whole of society” approach, the series demonstrated the Filipino value of “walang iwanan.” Nobody is left behind. The series supported meaningful dialogue among governments, private sector, academe and public health advocacy groups but, more importantly, it extended shared learning directly with health workers: medical and public health practitioners, local health boards, community health workers and other frontline pandemic response teams.

More notably, the learning exchange directly engaged with the Doctors to the Barrios (DTTB) of the Department of Health (DOH), a training program for rural physicians in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas across the Philippines. The breadth of attendees we have engaged illustrate a critically positive demand for continued shared learning.

The extent of expertise engaged also reflects the multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral nature of public health. Both underscore how the pandemic and other public health challenges are more effectively addressed through collaboration, consensus and capacity-building. Reaching across borders, across sectors and across different fields remains key in overcoming the pandemic.

This year, we celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the UK and the Philippines. Our close partnership has remained robust and agile through the many challenges of the pandemic. Working together, and building back better, will continue to be our shared commitment.

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Daniel Pruce is the British Ambassador to the Philippines. Vicente Belizario Jr. is dean and center director of the University of the Philippines College of Public Health (TROPMED Philippines).