CAS dean is panelist in NAST Visayas Regional Scientific Meeting

Dr. Alice Joan G. Ferrer, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, served as a panelist during two sessions of the Department of Science and Technology – National Academy of Science and Technology Visayas Regional Scientific Meeting on April 13 – 14, 2021, via Zoom.

The theme for the event is “COVID-19 Pandemic: Learning from the Past, Coping with the Present, Moving to the Next”.
Dr. Ferrer joined Panel Discussion 5 on Balancing the Economy and Health, where she gave a presentation titled, “COVID-19 Economics: Control the virus to grow the economy.”

Dr. Ferrer emphasized that the contraction of the economy is a deliberate policy response to the pandemic. There is no trade-off between health and the economy because it is clear that public health should be first.

Dr. Ferrer was also a panelist for Panel Discussion 6 on Health System Response and Preparedness, where she presented the ‘The Role of Social Sciences in the COVID-19 Response.’ Dr. Ferrer emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic is a health crisis and an economic and social crisis. Responding to the crisis needs insights from social and behavioral sciences, given it requires large-scale human behavior change and causes significant economic and psychological burdens shouldered by the people.

In both presentations, Dr. Ferrer provided a list of policy recommendations for moving forward and responding to a similar future crisis. These policy recommendations were adopted in the resolution generated from the scientific meeting.

Both panel discussions had a 45-minute open forum after the panelists’ presentations.  Panel Discussion 5 was hosted by the NAST PHL Social Sciences Division, while Panel Discussion 6 was hosted by NAST PHL Health Science Division. (Prof. Louie Marie Eluriaga, Division of Social Sciences, CAS, UPV)