November 26, 2023
A medical mission with psychosocial support service was conducted for residents in Minglanilla at the Calajoan Elementary School, Calajoan, Minglanilla, Cebu last November 26, 2023. It was organized by the Consortium for People’s Development – Disaster Response (CPDDR), Council for Health and Development (CHD), Visayas Primary Healthcare Services, Inc. (VPHCS), Women’s Resource Center of Visayas, Inc. (WRCV), the Pundok sakop Kalikupan (PSK), and the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCO). It was funded with the support of the Waldensian Church, Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches in Italy.
The WRCV, a non-government organization accredited by the Municipality of Minglanilla had formally informed the municipal mayor’s office on November 16, 2023 regarding the planned medical mission. Its Administrative Officer, Atty. Junrie Bragat, representing Mayor Rajiv E. Enad who was out of the country, met with the WRCV staff and expressed his municipality’s support for the mission. Subsequently, the WRCV wrote a letter to the Principal of the Calajoan Elementary School, Romela Quiamco who was glad to have her school grounds and classrooms to be the venue for the mission. The newly elected barangay captain of Calajoan, Samuel Sedano, likewise expressed his support and said he would have his barangay tanods ensure the orderly flow of the traffic during the mission.
A courtesy call was done by representatives of the organizations in the office of the Municipal Mayor, Hon. Rajiv E. Enad, who was represented by his chief of staff, Roland D. Lastimosa on November 24, 2023. Mr. Lastimosa thanked the organizers for their intention to serve the people of Minglanilla through the medical mission.
The medical mission team was organized by the VPHCS. It comprised of six staff members of the WRCV and four staff members of the VPHCS, five volunteer doctors and eight medical students of the Total Outreach for Community Health (TORCH), a student organization of the Cebu Institute of Medicine (CIM), a doctor of the CHD, the coordinator of the CPDDR, 14 members of the NAFCON, two members of the Migrante, a non-government organization, 10 members of the PSK, three other doctors, four nurses, two medical technologists, four nursing students, and three Dutch nursing students doing their internship with the WRCV. The municipal health officer and rural health physician of Minglanilla joined the team. A total of 71 team members served as the workforce of the medical mission.
The services comprised of the following, namely, registration of the patients, taking of their vital signs including blood pressure, respiratory rate, pulse rate, and temperature, weight, medical check-up, dispensing of essential medicines, fitting of reading glasses, urinalysis using urinary dipsticks, random blood sugar testing using a portable glucometer, and health education.
A total of 247 patients availed of the medical services, coming from different parts of Minglanilla, namely, Calajoan (197), Guindarohan (15), Tungkop (15), Tulay (9), Bacay (6), Pakigne (2), Manduwang (1), Vito (1) and Lipata (1). Guindarohan, Manduwang, and Vito are mountain barangays while the rest are in the coastal areas. Of the patients, 158 were adults 18 years and above, with the oldest being 80 years old. There were 57 patients five years old and below, and 32 patients between six to 17 years old. The youngest was one month old.
The most common diseases of the adults was hypertension, with 40 patients, followed by diabetes mellitus, type 1, with 22 patients. There were 24 patients with upper respiratory tract infection, viral in etiology. These diseases each had four patients, namely: pneumonia, thyroid mass and non-ulcer dyspepsia. Three patients had peripheral neuropathy and another three had cataract.
Each of the diseases had two patients, namely: sebaceous cyst in the back, breast mass, urinary tract infection, skin allergy, gastroesophageal reflux disease, atopic dermatitis of the skin, muscle spasms of the back, cataract and dental caries. Each of these diseases had one patient only, namely: anemia probably iron-deficiency, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, allergic rhinitis, pterygium, abnormal uterine bleeding, benign prostatic hyperplasia, eye strain, tuberculosis, wound in the vaginal area, osteoarthritis of the knees, and bacterial vaginosis. Two patients were pregnant. A few of the patients had more than one problem.
A total of 23 patients were essentially well.
Of the children 18 years and below, the most common disease was upper respiratory tract infection with 40 children. This was followed by 17 children with pneumonia, three with bronchial asthma, and three with dental caries. Each of these diseases had one patient, namely: congenital eye disorder, fungal infection of the skin, global developmental delay, impetigo contagiosa, abscess in the groin, otitis media, cellulitis in the leg, and folliculitis in the scalp.
A total of 17 children were essentially well.
A few patients who needed further laboratory tests and those who needed specialist care were referred to the Cebu South Medical Center, a tertiary government hospital in Talisay City.
Of the 247 patients, 55 patients of them availed of reading glasses, and 20 had urinalysis test using urinary dipstick with two of them showing bacteria in the urine.
There were 87 who availed of random blood sugar testing using a portable glucometer with many of them saying that this is the first time to have availed of such test. Of these, 15 had elevated blood sugar level, and were advised to have fasting blood sugar test in a laboratory for confirmation of diabetes. The remaining 72 patients tested had normal blood sugar tests.
Medications were dispensed to the patients. They included the following, namely: analgesic and antipyretics including paracetamol, mefenamic acid, and ibuprofen, respiratory medicines including ambroxol and salbutamol, antihypertensive agents including amlodipine, losartan and captopril, antibiotics including amoxicillin, cefuroxime, co-amoxiclav, cefalexin and ciprofloxacin. Other medicines included cetirizine for allergy, metformin for diabetes, omeprazole, antacids for gastrointestinal disorders, and multivitamins for children and adults.
Those who were diabetic and hypertensive were advised by the medical mission doctors to take their medications daily, and were educated on the possible complications of the two diseases if there is poor compliance of the medications.
As the services were going on, a team of young people delivered psychosocial support services for 20 children. They were asked if they remembered how they felt when Typhoon Odette struck in December 2021, if their houses were damaged or not, if they were safe or not. They said that they were relieved that they were all safe in their school which was made as their evacuation centers. Only the roofs of some houses were blown away by the strong winds and rains but they were able to repair their houses with assistance coming from outside groups. They were then made to draw how their houses look like at present. This activity made them realize that they are thankful that they have remained safe until the present, in spite of what they went through during Typhoon Odette, that they are fortunate to have a home and their family.
Many of the patients expressed their gratitude to have availed of the services and medicines. They said that there are limited medicines in their rural health unit and have to buy the medicines they needed themselves which many said they cannot afford.
