MikeLigalig.com

By Joey Alarilla
The Philippine Daily Inquirer

You might think that you only have to worry about stray dogs when it comes to the contraction of human rabies, but the irony is that 88 percent of cases in the Philippines are due to bites from pet dogs.

This was stated by Dr. Alberto T. Gabriel, one of the speakers at the inauguration of an Animal Bite Treatment Clinic at the Teodoro B. Galang District Hospital in the municipality of Jagna Monday.

This is the first of three such clinics that are being inaugurated in Bohol, with another clinic to be opened later in the day in the Congressman Simeon G. Toribio Memorial Hospital in Carmen and this Tuesday at the Congressman Natalio Castillo Memorial Hospital in Loon.

Bohol Governor Erico Aumentado, who was the guest of honor at the inauguration, has vowed to make the province rabies-free by 2010.

While acknowledging that this was a "tall order," Aumentado said the province had a rabies eradication program in place and hailed the support from partners in the private sector, such as IP Foundation, the corporate social responsibility division of IP Ventures Group, which is funding the three clinics. While IP Foundation is raising the funds, the clinics are being set up by its partner Family Vaccine and Specialty Clinics Inc.

Apart from addressing the health needs of Boholanos, Aumentado said a rabies-free Bohol would boost tourism and bring in dollars to the economy.

"We want Bohol to be rabies-free by 2010, which is when we expect the Panglao International Airport to open," Aumentado said in response to this writer's question during the press conference held at the administration office of the Teodoro B. Galang District Hospital.

Just how big a problem is rabies in the Philippines?

In his presentation, Dr. Gabriel said the country actually ranked fourth in the world when it came to the number of rabies cases, next only to China, India, and Bangladesh.

Each year, 400, 000 to 600, 000 Filipinos die from rabies, according to Dr. Ma. Portia Reyes, provincial health office leader, citing statistics from the Department of Health.

She added that the national government was aiming to make the Philippines rabies-free by 2020.

The Philippines is considered an endemic country when it comes to rabies, and Bohol's anti-rabies program supports the Philippine Department of Health and World Health Organization's Rabies Eradication Program.

Dr. Gabriel said one of the problems in the Philippines was that many Filipinos were not aware or were lax in having their pet dogs vaccinated.

He also noted that some Filipinos would eat dogs served ala “kinilaw” (or raw dog’s meat and skin marinated in vinegar) or cooked ala “sisig,” which would usually include dog’s meat and brain -- minced and served on a hot plate.

He stressed the need to document the number of dogs owned by each household.

"We should have house canvassing. If what you want is a rabies-free Bohol by 2010, that should be one of your projects," he said.

The Family Vaccine and Specialty Clinic project is the first health care initiative being supported by IP Foundation, according to its chairman Marco Y. Santos.

Asked why IP Foundation chose to focus first on the anti-rabies initiative, Santos said this would have an immediate impact since rabies was a big health problem in the Philippines.

"This would have an immediate benefit to a lot of Filipinos," Santos said.

"We're hoping to raise at least P100 million for the fund," he added, saying the money raised would be used for other health care initiatives.

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