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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