Department of Health (DOH) Sec. Francisco Duque assured First District congressman Edgar Chatto of the fund to acquire two plasma extractors for the Cong. Natalio Castillo Memorial Hospital in Loon and Catigbian District Hospital.
Chatto made efforts to secure these vital machines against the deadly dengue, a mosquito-caused disease that has already killed 16 children and downed 1,404, including adults, in Bohol just this year.
The country’s top health official wrote to the solon that the fund has been included in the DOH 2008 capital outlay in response to Chatto’s persistence.
Statistician Merlyn Nemenzo, dengue cases in-charge of the Provincial Health Office, said the devolved hospitals in Bohol can finally own plasma extractors.
Bohol has 10 devolved hospitals, including those in Loon and Catigbian which are in Chatto’s district.
The selection of hospitals is based on the available physicians and technical people who can be trained to operate the equipment.
This is Chatto’s another contribution to the fight against dengue after he caused the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) grant and endowment fund for Bohol victims of the dreaded disease.
The Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital, which is government-run but not devolved to the province, has plasma extractor but town hospitals must have such life=saving equipment, too, for emergency cases.
Plasma extractor would separate the platelet from the whole blood to determine the platelet count, which would be the laboratory confirmation basis for diagnosing a dengue patient.
PHO record shows that dengue had already victimized 1,420, including the 16 fatalities, in Bohol from January to October 8 this year.
Tagbilaran City had the most cases at 450, followed by Dauis, 168, Jagna, 103, Loon, 85, and Panglao, 47. Only Jagna does not belong to Chatto’s district.
--published by the Bohol StandardLinkback:
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