At last after a few days of waiting we finally got our share of the Anti-Filariasis medication. If you ask me, although the Department of Health has good intentions of eliminating Filariasis in the Philippines, their Anti-Filariasis Program is poorly implemented (well maybe in our Local Government Unit anyway). In our case, the people in our neighborhood were informed but the stocks of the drug was very limited and scarce. If we didn't go directly to the source, the main "barangay" (neighborhood) health center, then we wouldn't have received our anti-filariasis drugs. The information flashed on the TV was quite misleading and the people at the Barangay Hall were also misinformed.
With this kind of program implementation I doubt if the program would reach it's goals. One reason why people in the barangay don't go to the health center even if the services are free is because they consider going to the health center as a hassle and the line seems to go on forever. So if the information dissemination about the Filariasis program is vague then the outcome would more likely be a failure. The information dissemination was way better in Cagayan de Oro than here in the province.
But I salute our President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, for using her powers for the good of all issuing EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 369: ESTABLISHING THE NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR ELIMINATING LYMPHATIC FILARIASIS AND DECLARING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER OF EVERY YEAR AS MASS TREATMENT FOR FILARIASIS IN ESTABLISHED ENDEMIC AREAS.
Lymphatic filariasis as defined by Executive Order No. 369 is a parasitic disease primarily affecting children, women and men living in endemic remote areas; Lymphatic Filariasis is a debilitating and disfiguring disease, comprising about 76% of cases living in 4th to 6th class municipalities in 36 established endemic areas out of the 48 probably endemic provinces in the country; advances in the field of diagnosis and treatment make the disease one of the six eradicable diseases as declared by the International Task Force for Disease Eradication, as documented by endemic countries able to eradicate the disease such as Japan, Korea, etc;
So I encourage all Filipinos to avail of the said drugs to prevent Filariasis and to go to your nearest health centers while supplies still last. Don't wait until you become like this:
Filariasis
Photo Credit: Stanford University
With this kind of program implementation I doubt if the program would reach it's goals. One reason why people in the barangay don't go to the health center even if the services are free is because they consider going to the health center as a hassle and the line seems to go on forever. So if the information dissemination about the Filariasis program is vague then the outcome would more likely be a failure. The information dissemination was way better in Cagayan de Oro than here in the province.
But I salute our President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, for using her powers for the good of all issuing EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 369: ESTABLISHING THE NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR ELIMINATING LYMPHATIC FILARIASIS AND DECLARING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER OF EVERY YEAR AS MASS TREATMENT FOR FILARIASIS IN ESTABLISHED ENDEMIC AREAS.
Lymphatic filariasis as defined by Executive Order No. 369 is a parasitic disease primarily affecting children, women and men living in endemic remote areas; Lymphatic Filariasis is a debilitating and disfiguring disease, comprising about 76% of cases living in 4th to 6th class municipalities in 36 established endemic areas out of the 48 probably endemic provinces in the country; advances in the field of diagnosis and treatment make the disease one of the six eradicable diseases as declared by the International Task Force for Disease Eradication, as documented by endemic countries able to eradicate the disease such as Japan, Korea, etc;
So I encourage all Filipinos to avail of the said drugs to prevent Filariasis and to go to your nearest health centers while supplies still last. Don't wait until you become like this:
Filariasis
Photo Credit: Stanford University
2 comments:
Oh is it real picture.
Smith Alan
Hi! Thanks so much for taking the time to share your post; this posting has evoked the most response.
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