old habits never die

The Philippine Department of Health is conducting another "door-to-door" anti-measles vaccination of children under eight years old after data indicated an in cre4ase in measles cases.
Funny, but I am reposting an old news story I filed with TODAY newspaper, a Makati City-based paper of national in circulation, which shows that many incidents and disasters kept repeating due to erroneous and myopic policies, often to inebriate the vanities of politicians.
Here is a story, that when you change the date, even some names, is still current and fresh. Funny, but tragic.\

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Measles treatment decline as cases rise nationwide

By Manuel T. Cayon               20 January 2004

DAVAO CITY – The Department of Health said that cases of measles have increased since 1999 but treatment has declined, blamed largely on inaccessible health centers and declining frequency of mothers bringing their children for regular immunization.

DOH monitoring shows that there were 880,762 cases in 2003 in Southern Mindanao, from only 195,000 when the ten-year immunization program against this once leading cause of disease among infants and children.

There were already two million children with measles as of last year, said Dr. Bernadette Sabay, DOH regional medical specialist.

The measles cases dropped down significantly to 9,000 in the region in 1999 after the nationwide immunization was started in 1998, but the cases immediately shot up to 138,000 on 2000, going further higher to 751,000 the following year. In 2002, the cases increased to 852,000.

Last year, public schools monitored 241,581 cases, and private schools, with 12,794. Outside the campuses however, the cases were widespread, with 627,387 cases.

Many cases were monitored in the rural areas and in the slum areas in cities and towns.

Measles is an infectious disease common in children that manifests as rashes in the neck and behind the ears, gradually spreading to the rest of the body and extremities. Early symptoms include cold, sore throat, cough and rise and temperature. The rashes appear on the fourth day. Recovery usually happens on the seventh and ninth day and infection is high on the period shortly before the rashes appear.

The sharp increase in only a few years after the nationwide immunization campaign has prodded the DOH to launch a new round of door-to-door immunization campaign next month.

Weakness in implementation, the common affliction among all government undertakings, has been blamed mainly on the inaccessibility of rural health clinics and the disinterest of mothers to comply with the regular set of immunization of their children.

The DOH admitted that the treatment of the two million cases would cost P5.11 billion but a preventive program would only cost P4.67 billion.

An uncomplicated case would only cost P384 in treatment, but treatment for complications would cost up to P10,000.

The government shouldered the ten-year Philippine Measles Elimination Campaign “to interrupt the circulation of measles virus in all communities by year 2008”.

The new round of immunization would be undertaken door to door in February and the DOH would ask the help of other government agencies such as the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Social Welfare and Development and all local government units.

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Government tests evacuation skill

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Residents of eastern Philippines went on a massive and near simultaneous evacuations in recent history on Friday, March 11, prompted by government tsunami warning but mainly driven by fear of a replication of broadcast images of the devastating tsunami in eastern Japan.

Residents packed belongings and tucked children and either walked or ride on available vehicles of various types and sought safe promontories across highways, and Rebecca Lopez, officer in charge of the Office of Civil Defense said that the order for enforced evacuation was mainly carried out by the barangay leaders in coastal villages.

Radio reports gave varying, often high, figures of evacuation from those of government account, in the two Surigao provinces, Davao Oriental and Davao del Sur, all facing the Pacific Ocean.

A radio broadcast said about 15,000 residents have evacuated the many coastal towns of Surigao del Sur, and 4,000 from Sta. Cruz and 14,000 from Malita, all of Davao del Sur.

The disaster centers of Davao del Sur gave lower figure. In her report to the Philippine Information Agency, Adelaida Badilla of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Center, said 2,270 residents evacuated six coastal barangays in Sta. Cruz  and sought safety in ten evacuation centers. They returned to their villages by 2:00 am Saturday, March 12, after the alert was lifted at midnight.

Jose Abad Santos town administrator, Atty. Jason John Joyce, also in his report to the PIA, said the town was yet to estimate the number of residents who evacuated but added that they have returned home before midnight.

Ester Hermosisima of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office reported to the PIA that “hundreds of coastal residents in Malita this province have also returned home before midnight.

Many of the towns in Surigao del Sur sought shelter in municipal gymnasiums, although it was not clear if these places were located in higher grounds.

Mindanao though is dotted with mountains and many of the coasts were near foothills of mountains, especially in the eastern side.

The tsunami alert was the second to be issued within 13 months, after the government also issued the same warning in February last year, when Chile was hit by an 8.8 magnitude quake. Chile is located to the infamous Pacific rim of fire, where countries dotting the peripheries of the world’s largest ocean are mostly carved out of volcanoes, or have active volcanoes.  The rim spans from South America to east Asia.

In last year’s tsunami warning, it was uncertain though how many coastal villages were vacated by residents.

On Friday, the OCD issued the tsunami warning of preparation for evacuation but Lopez said that “We gave the advisory at 4:00 pm of tsunami alert of a likelihood of tsunami between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm,” she told BusinessMirror.

She said it was the barangay leaders who would determine an enforced evacuation.

Broadcast images of massive sea waves swarming and washing away houses, vehicles, ships and planes appeared to have stricken fear among residents.

In Agdao, the city’s largest slum colony with more than 100,000 residents along the coastal strip at the edge of eastern downtown, some residents sent mobile text messages to their friends describing how neighbors have panicked. There were no report though of violence or persons hurt.

In Bunawan, 24 kilometers north of downtown and near Panabo City of Davao del Norte, some residents living in stilt houses were forced to evacuate by other residents after they noted quick surges of high and low tides. With other residents, they went to the higher ground about seven kilometers inward from the national highway.

In Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, Badilla said that while the provincial government did not issue an evacuation order after the tsunami alert was raised to Level 2, or evacuation was recommended already, “people evacuated by their own will to higher grounds”.

She told the PIA that this prompted MDRRMC to set up 10 evacuation centers for the residents of barangays Bato, Zone 4, Zone 3, Astorga, Darong and Inawayan.

Badilla said the municipal government and the disaster council sent advisories and warning on the tsunami alert at 3:30 pm yesterday to barangay captains and residents of the 11 coastal barangays.

The night evacuation has also prompted Jose Abad Santos, the southernmost town of Davao del Sur, to ask power utilities to extend service beyond midnight to help residents and local government authorities cope with emergency situation. This town has 23 coastal barangays.

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