DR. Nelita Navales called on parents to let their children seven months to six years old join the Garantisadong Pambata on Oct. 18. The City Health Officer said they conduct the program twice a year, the first time of which was last April. In that activity, children are administered with Vitamin A and de-worming drugs like Albendezol. There are dental services, too wherein children are taught the proper way of brushing their teeth.
November will be filariasis-awareness month wherein the City Health Office will also administer Diethylcarbamazine citrate (DECC) to people two to 65 years old. DECC is the most widely used drug for the treatment and control of human lymphatic filariasis which is endemic in Leyte. Filariasis is caused by a mosquito bite and leads to elephantiasis which is the enlargement of the extremities, legs and lymphatics.
Meanwhile, Dr. Navales urged poor families who are beneficiaries of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) to take advantage of their Philhealth cards. Beneficiaries can avail of discounts on medical services including deliveries up to the 4th child. There are 5,654 families covered by Philhealth in Ormoc or 30,000 members.
Dr. Navales takes pride that the city’s five district health centers are all Philhealth-accredited. She encourages low-income Ormocanons to avail of other services extended by the district health centers like newborn screening which examines an infant’s blood to check for any congenital defect like hypothyroidism or mental retardation. The city government has invested on filter papers worth P600 each for the newborn screening but patients don’t have to pay for this. by Felix N. Codilla III
(Issue of Sept. 26-Oct. 2, 2011)
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