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MP folk avail UPMAS, Chestcore medical, dental services

BAUKO, Mountain Province (Oct. 24) — A 68-year old woman from Mabaay has not consulted any doctor in the past twenty years. She said she used to bring her children to the rural health unit but took any medicine available whenever she was sick. Another 60-year old woman has not seen a doctor all her life. The duo is among those in a long queue of beneficiaries of the medical mission here on October 22-23 by the Class ’77 of the University of the Philippines Medical Alumni Society (UPMAS).

At 11:30 A.M. on October 22 when the registration committee of the medical mission here temporarily stopped listing names of prospective beneficiaries, there were already 578 registrants. This number rose almost three-folds when the medical and dental services finally closed at 4:15 P.M. the following day.

“For the first time, the hospital operated as a departmentalized hospital,” said Dr. Edgardo Bolompo, chief of the Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital, the site of the two-day medical-dental mission. He said he had always hoped that the hospital, now the regional hospital, would operate as it had operated during the mission.

Temporary departments of medicine, pediatrics, ophthalmology, OB-Gyne, surgery, orthopedics, acupuncture and dental services served more than 1,500 patients.

Among the more celebrated cases attended to was an operation which corrected a cleft lip of a baby. Upper respiratory tract infection topped the illnesses. High blood pressure was prevalent even among the young adults.

Hospital records reveal that during the third quarter, respiratory ailments topped the causes of morbidity, followed by dengue fever, which broke out in Tadian town.

Around 80 doctors, 55 of whom belong to the UPMAS, the UP College of Medicine, the Philippine General Hospital, the Philippine Dental Association, the Council for Health and Development and the Community Medicine Foundation, attended to the medical and dental needs of patients from the towns of Bauko, Tadian, and Sabangan, all in Mountain Province.

The Baguio City Dental Society, Project Luke, medical students of the Saint Louis University and nursing students of the Pines City Educational College also participated.

Community Health Education Services and Training in the Cordillera Region (Chestcore), Apit Tako-Montanosa, Bayan Muna-MP, and the Cordillera People’s Alliance facilitated the conduct of the medical/dental mission. The local government of Bauko was also involved in the outreach project.

In her talks during the orientation on October 22, Dr. Ana Marie Leung, Chestcore executive director, said that the patients come from communities made up predominantly of farming indigenous peoples, who cannot compete with the global agricultural production and are victims of onerous trade agreements. She added that these communities would be affected by the expanded operations of the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company.

This is the third medical outreach of the UPMAS; the last was in Cervantes, Ilocos Sur last year. Aside from free consultations, medicines, vitamins and other services as surgical operations and acupuncture were given free to the people. # Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS

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