The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) announced Saturday, June 26, that it will unveil its three major health research projects under the disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation (DRR-CCA) program of its Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD).

The three DDR-CCA projects will be presented during the second Talakayang HeaRT Beat (Health Research and Technology) of 2021 on Monday, June 28 via Zoom.

In a statement issued to the media on Saturday, the DOST said one of the completed DRR-CCA projects is the development of ready-to-eat food products for children aged one to five years old in response to nutrition and food security concerns during disaster events.

“This research developed emergency food products that will address age-appropriate nutrient requirements of children. Enriched with essential micronutrients, the ready to eat food products are developed to treat possible nutritional deficiencies and acute malnutrition of children in events of disaster,” it said.

The second project that will be featured during the event is the development of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (µPADS) for the detection of diarrhea causing pathogens in water.

“After the onset of disasters, water-borne diseases like diarrhea are among the most documented outbreaks caused by poor water quality. Recognizing the importance of monitoring water quality, this project developed a microfluidic paper-based analytical device or µPADs that can detect diarrhea-causing pathogens by assessing the water-quality after disaster events,” the DOST said.

“It uses the “lab-on-paper” concept which condenses the equipment, resources, personnel and time needed to obtain an accurate result,” it added.

The development of Health Index and Vulnerability Reduction System for Region 4B (D-HIVE 4B Capital) will be the third project to be unveiled.

“To increase resiliency of island provinces in the country, this project developed the eSalba system, a web-based and mobile application that aids emergency responders in making absolute decision during disasters and helps prepare the local government unit of Region 4B in health monitoring, route planning, defining optimal evacuation policies and adaptation measures in events of disaster,” the DOST said.

Included in the list of resource persons of the Talakayang HeaRT Beat are DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña, DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development Rowena Cristina Guevara, DOST Undersecretary for S&T Services Renato Solidum, PCHRD Executive Director Jaime Montoya, and the DRR-CCA project leaders—Ms. Ma. Christina Ramos of Philippine Women’s College of Davao, Dr. Lori Shayne Busa of Nueva Viscaya State University, and Dr. Delia B. Senoro of Mapua University.

Reference: https://mb.com.ph/2021/06/26/dost-to-unveil-3-health-research-breakthroughs-under-ddr-climate-change-adaptation-program/