Is tourism more important than job security for the Macapagal-Arroyo administration? Enlightened workers of public hospitals think so. By PHILIP PARAAN Bulatlat.com The Macapagal-Arroyo administration is currently promoting medical tourism to have an “effective and efficient delivery of comprehensive and globally competitive, quality specialized health care.” Public hospital workers, however, argue that medical tourism will…
Category: Health
Baguio Drivers’ Blood Contaminated with Lead, Study Shows
Lead, a heavy metal believed to be a health hazard, is found in Baguio drivers’ blood samples, a study presented at an academic forum at the University of the Philippines (UP) in this city shows. The study, “Incidence of Lead in the Blood of Jeepney Drivers in Baguio City” by Dr. Benilda Narcelles of the…
Acupuncture as Dengue Protection
The Council for Health and Development (CHD) has been promoting acupuncture treatment based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Celestino Dizon, acupuncturist of CHD, said that by undergoing acupuncture sessions, one’s immune system could be strengthened to lessen the danger the dengue virus brings to the body. BY AUBREY MAKILAN Bulatlat.com Fear of dengue now hounds…
Dengue Remains a National Threat – DoH
The Department of Health warned that dengue remains to be a major threat among Filipinos even as this year’s figures is represent a 21 percent slide in the number of cases compared to last year. Health Sec. Francisco Duque III said that the mosquito-borne disease is still a problem because the National Capital Region, Region…
Breast Is Always the Best – DOH
Owing to the successful advertising and promotion of breastmilk substitutes intended for infants and young children, 98.6 percent of Filipino infants are formula-fed with cow’s milk. At six to seven months of age less than two percent of Filipino infants are exclusively breastfed. By Maria G. Salamat Bulatlat.com When Tina, a first-time mother, was awkwardly…
Medical Transcription: Antidote to Brain Drain?
Four years after he graduated from a prestigious university here, Mark Dicaleng landed a job in a medical transcription (MT) company. He has only been with the company for a year but he is earning a five-digit income. By Lyn V. Ramo Northern Dispatch Bulatlat.comPosted by Bulatlat.com BAGUIO CITY — One need not go abroad…
The ‘Corporatization’ of the Public Health System
Official statistics show that seven out of every 10 Filipinos die without ever seeing a doctor and that the nearly 75 percent of the population living below poverty line are mainly in rural areas where there is no access to basic services such as health and medical care. Yet the government has allotted a mere…
Lepanto Mining Firm Not Environment-Friendly – UP Baguio, SLU scholars
For months now, Lepanto mining company is locked in a protracted labor strike by its employees. But there’s another issue raised by university-based doctors and scientists on the firm’s mining operations. Their findings of water samples take from river systems where the company’s mine tailings are allegedly dumped showed very high cyanide, chromium and lead.…
Medical Schools Rake in Profits – but Health System is in Crisis
There are dire signs that if the exodus of Filipino health professionals continue over the next three years, the Philippine health care system will be in crisis. By Charles Raiñer C. Marquez Contributed to Bulatlat.com In the past two years, there have been half-a-million students enrolled in about 30 medical schools, 140 nursing schools, 113…
Marcopper Death Toll Reaches 3: Community, Environmental Groups Press for Justice
The mining operations have long been stopped but the toxic wastes dumped by Marcopper and Placer Dome from 1975 to 1991 into Marinduque’s Calancan Bay, a major water and food source in the area, has claimed yet another life. By Bulatlat.com Ambeth Relloque, 18, was to be brought by ambulance to the Philippine General Hospital…
Poor Man’s Diet: Of Noodles, Chicken Skin and Isaw
“Kumakalam ang tiyan,” “mahapdi ang sikmura,” and “namumuti ang mata sa gutom” are all expressions pertaining to hunger. That there are so many of them in Filipino indicates how prevalent hunger is among Filipinos. Meanwhile, the most commonly eaten food today – noodles and streetfoods such as isaw (grilled chicken intestine) – are not enough…