Research Institute for Tropical Medicine

The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM; Filipino: Surian sa Pananaliksik ng Medisinang Tropikal[3]) is a health research facility based in Muntinlupa, Philippines.

Research Institute for Tropical Medicine
Surian sa Pananaliksik ng Medisinang Tropikal
Main building in 2015
Established23 April 1981 (1981-04-23)[1](pi)
Field of research
Tropical disease
DirectorCelia C. Carlos
Address9002 Research Drive, Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang[2]
LocationMuntinlupa, Philippines
14°24′35″N 121°02′13″E
Operating agency
Department of Health
Websiteritm.gov.ph
Map
Location in Metro Manila
Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (Luzon)
Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (Philippines)

History

Establishment

By the early 1980s, negotiations between "mutually interested parties" within the governments of the Philippines and Japan had been going on for several years, and reached finally reached a breakthrough in 1981 in the form of a grant-in-aid agreement under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).[1](pviii)

With the help of this Japanese grant, a USD 8 Million facility was constructed within the Ministry of Health's Bureau of Research and Laboratories compound in Alabang, Muntinlupa.[1](pviii) Malacanang palace then issued Executive Order (EO) 674 on March 25, 1981, formally authorizing the Philippine Ministry of Health to establish a research facility to implement a basic and applied research program for tropical medicine in the Philippines, pushing both for health advancement and for medical research.[4][5]

The facility, which included an 80-bed hospital with an Intensive Care Unit and operating rooms,[5] was inaugurated on April 23, 1981.[1](pi)

Marcos era issues
See also: edifice complex and Marcos Japanese ODA scandal

Throughout the Marcos administration, the RITM was heavly dependent on Japanese government funding for its continued operations with JICA providing about USD 1 million (approx ₱18 million) from 1981 to 1984,[6] and providing another ₱3.2 million in equipment in 1985, when the year RITM's experimental animal laboratory was established. By contrast, the administration's budget allocated the RITM an average of about ₱7 million annually from 1981 to 1985, largely for basic operating expenses and personnel services.[7] The institution was also renamed, having originally been proposed as the "Philippine Japan Research Institute for Tropical Diseases."[7][8]

The institute's output was criticised in underground publications during the martial law regime because its research findings were not being released in the Philippines, and were instead only being submitted to JICA to satisfy grant requirements,[5] given that the majority of the patients it served were research patients, while the Philippine health system had an overwhelming need to meet basic health services.[5]

The institute thus became associated with the administration's supposed "edifice complex"[9] - propaganda projects designed to be impressive showcases of the administration's achievements but whose actual development impact at the time was questionable.[9][5][7] Like many edifice complex projects, RITM was located only in Manila, limiting access to it by citizens from elsewhere on the Philippine archipelago.[7]

Marukosu giwaku

Criticism of these and similar funding practices which helped prop up of the Marcos regime eventually became known as the Marukosu giwaku (マルコス疑惑), or "Marcos scandal", once the Marcoses were deposed in 1986.[10] The investigation by the Japanese legislature's 1986 session and the resulting reforms eventually brought about the creation of JICA's first ODA Charter in 1992.[11][12]

Post-EDSA reforms

The RITM was retained by the Aquino administration,[13] and the various administrations after the 1986 EDSA revolution have continued to work with JICA to improve and expand RITM's services.[14]

Research dissemination

By 1987, RITM had implemented reforms reflecting the new administration's focus on making sure research is disseminated – launching a companion program to disseminate research results and creating the Office of Public Information Research Dissemination. It also launched a quarterly publication detailing its research findings and news items. Work towards the establishment of an International Training Center was also begun.[15]

Increased Philippine government funding

After Marcos was deposed in February 1986, the new government began allotting larger budgets to the RITM, with a ₱4.9 million increase in 1986. In the first full budget year after the Marcos administration, the RITM was given ₱5 million more than it had been given in the 1985 budget.[16]

Additional research grants (1987)

Research grants from the World Health Organization, the National Academy of Science (BOSTID), the International Development Research Center, the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau, the Edna McConnel Clark Foundation, Sanofi, and the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development allowed RITM to expand its research beyond their previous focus on diarrheal diseases, acute respiratory infections, and schistosomiasis, and allowed research programs in AIDS, leprosy, hepatitis, dengue, and malaria. A Technical Cooperation Program with JICA allowed RITM to expand the expertise of its staff.[15]

Center for Training in Tropical Infectious Diseases (1989)

In 1989, the RITM Center for Training in Tropical Infectious Diseases was established.

NIH Tropical Medicine Research Center Program (1991)

In 1990 the US National Institutes of Health approved a 5-year grant to the RITM for the establishment of a NIH Tropical Medicine Research Center Program in the Philippines, starting in February 1991. This partnership allowed the RITM to collaborate with scientists in Australia and the US on research relating to malaria, leprosy, and schistosomiasis.[17]

Merger with the DOH Biologicals Production Service (2000)

The Biologicals Production Service of the Department of Health, the vaccine laboratory of the Philippines, was absorbed by the RITM in November 2000[18]

Biosafety Level 3 laboratory (2018)

The RITM received a Biosafety Level 3 laboratory from the Japanese government in 2018, improving its capacity to conduct research on higher-risk bacteria and viruses.[19]

COVID-19 pandemic
Main article: COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the RITM became a site for preliminary testing for suspected cases of SARS-CoV-2 in the Philippines.[20] In the early months of the pandemic in the Philippines, RITM was the only laboratory with the capacity to test COVID-19 cases.[21] The pandemic has affected the RITM itself when forty of its employees tested positive for COVID-19 on April 20, 2020.[22]

Institute functions

The RITM is tasked by the Philippine Department of Health and the Philippine Government to supervise, plan, and successfully implement research programs to prevent and to control prevailing infectious and tropical diseases in the Philippines. This includes research involving the advancement of vaccines and medications used by medical professionals, such as physicians, nurses, and medical technologists, that they utilize whenever patients they handle are under the diagnosis and treatment of infectious and treatable and curable diseases. The institute also trains medical and health workers in order to be further educated in their fields in relation to the management of tropical infectious diseases. Formulation of plans and research projects involving biological products proposed and currently utilized by the Philippine Department of Health are also covered by the functions of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, including the manufacture of biologic products and vaccines.

See also

References
  1. "1981 Annual Report" (PDF). Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  2. "Contact Us | Research Institute for Tropical Medicine". Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  3. Direktoryo ng mga Ahensiya at Opisyal ng Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas (PDF) (in Filipino). Kagawaran ng Badyet at Pamamahala (Department of Budget and Management). 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  4. "Executive Order No. 674, s. 1981". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. 25 March 1981. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  5. Manapat, Ricardo. (1991) Some Are Smarter Than Others. Aletheia Press.
  6. "1984 Annual Report" (PDF). Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  7. Ariate, Joel F. Jr.; Reyes, Miguel Paolo P. (2020-04-22). "Marcos propaganda in a time of plague". VeraFiles. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  8. "JICA Report PDF: Proposal for the control of communicable diseases in the Philippines" (PDF). openjicareport.jica.go.jp. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-04-26.
  9. Lico, Gerard (2003). Edifice Complex: Power, Myth, and Marcos State Architecture. University of Hawaii Press.
  10. Hirata, K. (2002-08-16). Civil Society in Japan: The Growing Role of NGO's in Tokyo's Aid and Development Policy. Springer. p. 89. ISBN 9780230109162.
  11. Brown, James D. J.; Kingston, Jeff (2018-01-02). Japan's Foreign Relations in Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9781351678575.
  12. Tsunekawa, Keiichi (February 2014). "Objectives and Institutions for Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA) : Evolution and Challenges". JICA Research Institute Working Papers No.66. No. 66.
  13. "1986 Annual Report" (PDF). Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  14. Espino, Fe Esperanza J. (2006-04-06). "RITM: Working for public good for 25 years". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  15. "1987 Annual Report". Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  16. Ariate, Joel F. Jr.; Reyes, Miguel Paolo P. "Senator Imee Marcos lies about RITM in pushing for SB1407". Vera Files. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  17. "1990 Annual Report". Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  18. Adel, Rosette (May 22, 2020). "DOST proposes creation of virology institute in Philippines". The Philippine Star. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  19. "Japan turns over BSL-3 lab to PH". Philippine News Agency. 3 September 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  20. Romero, Sheila Crisostomo,Alexis. "DOH probes 8 cases of suspected nCoV". The Philippine Star.
  21. "DOH sends 100,000 test kits to RITM, testing centers nationwide". CNN Philippines. March 23, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  22. "40 RITM employees test positive for COVID-19". ABS-CBN News. April 20, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
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