DOH cites downward trend in fireworks-related injuries
Health Undersecretary Eric Tayag discusses the number of fireworks-related injuries this year and in past years during a press conference at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila on Sunday, December 31, 2023. (Arnel Tacson, INQUIRER.net)
MANILA, Philippines — The number of fireworks-related injuries (FWRI) in the country may not exceed 400 every year if the current downward trend continues, Health Undersecretary Eric Tayag said on Sunday.
Tayag recalled that for New Year 2022, there were only 307 FWRIs reported from December 21, 2022, to January 6, 2023.
Meanwhile, the FWRI for New Year 2021 was at 189, Tayag said.
“Sa mga nagdaang taon, sa aming pagbabalik tanaw sa aming mga datos, lumalabas na kung mananatili po ang trend sa mga susunod na taon ay maaaring hindi na po tayo lumagpas sa apat na raang bilang taun-taon,” he said in a press conference at the Philippine General Hospital.
(In recent years, when we look back at our data, it appears that if the trend continues in the next few years, we may not exceed four hundred cases annually.)
“Matatandaan niyo po noong mga nakalipas na taon bago pa magkaroon tayo ng isang batas kung saan bina-ban ang mga illegal fireworks, libu-libo at daan-daan ang nagkakaroon ng tetanus maliban pa doon sa FWRI,” he added.
(You will remember that in the past years, before we had a law banning illegal fireworks, thousands got tetanus, aside from FWRI.)
Meanwhile, Regional Director for Metro Manila Center for Health Development Dr. Aleli Annie Grace Sudiacal said that only eight out of 16 local government units and one municipality in Metro Manila have so far reported cases of reported FWRIs.
