News from the GARC Philippines Office
GARC would like to introduce you to our new staff in the Philippines office but, before we do that, all of us in GARC would like to send our most sincere thanks to Dr Betsy Miranda and Dr Maria Concepcion Roses for all of their tireless efforts. We are sure that you will join us in sending our heartfelt best wishes for their future success in the field of global public health.
Over the past several weeks, we have been adding professionals in the field of global public health focused on the field of rabies prevention to our team in the Philippines. Please join us in welcoming them to our GARC Team!
Ma. Luningning E. Villa, MD, MPH, Country Representative (Philippines and Indonesia)
Dr. Ma. Luningning E. Villa has extensive experience in managing public health programs. Ning, as she is fondly called by her colleagues, has more than twenty-five years of involvement in various aspects of public health engagements such as administration, and program and project management from the local to the national (Philippines) and regional (ASEAN) level.
She is not new to managing a rabies control and elimination program as she was the Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) National Rabies Coordinator from 1996 to 2001.
In 1997, she initiated the establishment of at least one Animal Bite Treatment Center in every province of the Philippines and the nationwide adoption of the Intradermal Regimen of Human Anti-rabies Vaccine.
In 2008, under the purview of the ASEAN Plus Three Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme II, for which she worked as Programme Facilitator, the ASEAN Call for Rabies Elimination by Year 2020 was formulated and adopted by the ASEAN Member States.
In 2010, she was WHO consultant to DOH on the drafting of the Medium-Term Plan and Manual of Operations of the National Rabies Prevention and Control Program.
She is currently completing a study on rabies exposure.
Deciding to join the Global Alliance for Rabies Control was not difficult for her as public health management is her ‘first love’. The opportunity to work in GARC allows her to carry on her passion to make a difference in advancing public health globally.
Sarah I. Jayme, DVM, Senior Veterinary Manager
Being involved in various programs on transboundary animal diseases as a Veterinary Field Officer, Dr. Sarah Jayme is very keen to share her experiences in the implementation of GARC’s field projects.
She was part of the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Task Force that successfully eradicated FMD in the Philippines. Aside from FMD, she led the field implementation of various animal disease control and prevention projects of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the Philippines such as on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and Ebola Reston.
Sarah also worked in the North Pacific for the Secretariat for the Pacific Community (SPC) for Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Project. And was involved in the organizing the Animal Relief and Rehabilitation Philippines (ARRPh) for the areas affected by the typhoon "Haiyan" last November 2013.
Aside from her full-time work as the Senior Veterinary Manager of GARC, Sarah is currently studying part-time taking up Masters in Veterinary Public Health Management at the University of Sydney.
Elaine Llarena, MA ,Communication and Education Consultant
Ms. Elaine Llarena is an Assistant Professor at the College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños (CDC-UPLB).
Before joining the academe she was involved in the early stages of the GARC projects in the Philippines and Indonesia. Currently, she supports the communication and education team in the Philippines as a consultant.
Elaine has extensive experience as a communication specialist and manager in various animal health programs in the Philippines and Lower Mekong countries in Southeast Asia. She has also worked as a program officer in an animal welfare project in the Philippines which supports rabies control.
Her specialization in development communication, risk communication and research is a significant contribution to one of GARC’s goals which is to engage communities towards rabies elimination.
By Deborah Briggs, Executive Director of GARC.