By Raymart Escopel
ILOILO City – The Department of Health (DOH) Western Visayas aims to boost the eye health services offered by the government in hospitals and field health service delivery network through its Prevention for Blindness Program (PBP).
PBP, a part of the Essential Non-Communicable Diseases (ENCD) Community Model Project, is in line with the mandate of the Universal Health Care program to provide every Filipino access to affordable and quality health care.
According to DOH-6 regional coordinator for ENCD Programs Mary Ann Sta. Lucia, 1,422 residents in the second district of Iloilo alone suffer from bilateral blindness.
Of the district’s 284,410 total population, 853 have cataracts.
The second district includes the municipalities of Alimodian, Leganes, Leon, New Lucena, Pavia, San Miguel, Sta. Barbara and Zarraga.
Sta. Lucia said one of the objectives of the PBP program in Iloilo is to reduce the current prevalence of bilateral blindness due to all causes to at least less than 0.5 percent.
Sta. Lucia added that it is necessary to prevent blindness to prevent the increasing number of disabled people in the province.
Aside from PBP, the ENCD Community Model project also includes the Promotion of Health and Wellness for Persons with Disabilities (PWD) in the second district of Iloilo province, and the Violence and Injury Prevention Program (VIPP) both in the city and province of Iloilo.
The Promotion of Health and Wellness for PWDs will be implemented in order to ensure the improvement of their access and reasonable accommodations to both general and specialized health services and care, as well as the implementation of policies and guidelines for them to avail government health services.
Meanwhile, the VIPP serves as an integral part of the Revised National Policy on Violence and Injury Prevention (AO 2014-0002) which will lead to the establishment of pre-hospital Emergency Medical Service (EMS) system in both national and local levels.
ENCD Community Model project for the province of Iloilo was launched by DOH-6 last June 18./PN
