DOH readies campaign vs firecracker injuries

AFP FILE PHOTO

The Department of Health (DOH) will adopt a shame campaign against local chief executives who are unable to bring down firecracker-related cases in their areas of jurisdiction.

Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial on Monday urged the public to adopt a community fireworks display in neighborhoods, and to think of alternative noisemaking activities for the New Year.

Ubial said the agency will be monitoring firecracker-related cases and injuries until Jan. 5, after which they will reveal the results of the monitoring.

Shame campaign

The “shame campaign” is aimed at naming local governments with the highest cases of such injuries, usually from holiday festivities.

“Starting today until Jan. 5, we will be monitoring the cases. We will also have media events in the hospitals for this particular campaign,” she said in a press briefing.

Ubial urged local executives to cooperate and participate in the agency’s antifirecrackers drive.

“Please do your part in this campaign to prevent injuries among children. We lose a lot in the costs of our healthcare system because of these useless causes of injuries,” she said.

The health secretary also asked parents to ensure that their children do not use exploding firecrackers such as “piccolo” during the New Year celebrations.

Last year, the DOH recorded 932 cases of injuries nationwide from Dec. 21, 2015 to Jan. 5, 2016.

This was 72 cases or 8 percent higher compared to 2014’s figures.

Of the 932 reported injuries last year, 920 or 98.7 percent were due to fireworks, 10 or 1.1 percent from stray bullets, while 2 or 0.2 percent were firecracker ingestion.

One death was due to massive injuries from an exploding “Goodbye Philippines.”

Most injuries were caused by piccolo at 385 cases or 42 percent, followed by unknown firecrackers at 109 or 12 percent, while 103 cases or 11 percent were due to “kwitis.”

President Duterte was expected to sign an executive order regulating firecracker use, but this was put on hold until next year to allow the government to discuss its impact on the fireworks industry and find practical ways to impose the executive order.