The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) held the 15th Meeting for Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation – Asia Pacific (CAPSCA-AP/15) at Makati Diamond Residences from December 14 to 16, 2022.
Established in 2006, CAPSCA is a voluntary cross-sectorial, multi-organizational collaboration programme managed by the ICAO, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO).
This year’s CAPSCA – Asia Pacific, which is hosted by the CAAP for the second time, brings together international, regional, national and local organizations to combine efforts to improve preparedness planning and response to public health events that affect the aviation sector.
The event was joined by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Asia Pacific Deputy Regional Director General Dr. Manjit Singh, ICAO Aviation Medicine Section Chief Dr. Ansa Jordaan, representatives of various local and partner international organizations, and partners from Public Health Authorities, Airports and Airlines.
In his opening remarks, DOTr Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said that CAPSCA’s first post-pandemic physical meeting here in the Philippines presents an opportunity for aviation sector to evaluate the effectiveness of the country’s collective efforts at responding to a global health crisis.
“Just as air travel hastened the virus spread, we are now pinning our hopes to accelerate the global economic rebound through calculated measures that responsible to revive the air transport travel in the country,” Secretary Bautista added.
This week, CAAP also facilitated the Aviation Medical Examiner Refresher Workshop from 12-13 December 2022, joined by medical examiners from Asia-Pacific countries.
CAAP Director General Manuel Antonio Tamayo meanwhile expressed his gratitude to ICAO through CAPSCA and the WHO for ‘playing a key role during the pandemic.’
“The past years have indeed been challenging for all of us. But with the lessons learned from this experience, together with the brilliant ideas that will be formed during this three-day event, we hope to see the aviation sector not only recover, but also help it become more resilient moving forward,” he added. (JERRY S. TAN)
