The Municipality of Cainta temporarily shelters evacuees in the West Bank, Floodway. According to former Cainta Mayor Keith Nieto, over 142 families have taken refuge in the evacuation center. | PHOTO: Nieto/Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday instructed the Department of Health (DOH) to set up clinics and deploy medical teams to all evacuation centers after Metro Manila was placed under a state of calamity following widespread flooding due to the combined effects of Supertyphoon Carina (international name: Gaemi) and the southwest monsoon (“habagat”).
“Sometimes health care is overlooked [in post-evacuation situations]. But those in the evacuation areas need to have access to clinics or at least a rotating medical team,” Marcos said at a Palace briefing.
“Tell the DOH that the evacuation centers, it’s necessary, especially the children, we have to give some medical care even if it’s just their barangay health workers first until a doctor is available,” he added.
“[We have to ensure that we can provide] the maintenance medicines of the senior citizens, because they were cut off from their supply. But that requires a prescription from a doctor,” he said.
In line with the president’s order, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa tasked DOH units to support local government units for health concerns in evacuation centers.
Higher alert level
Herbosa has upgraded to “Code Blue” the alert status of all DOH offices and health facilities in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, and Ilocos regions, the second highest in a three-level alert system for health emergency management.
Code Blue is raised to initiate coordination between dispatch teams, experts, and other emergency response agencies.
“One week after these floods, we expect the emergency rooms of our hospitals to be filled with leptospirosis patients,” Herbosa said at a command conference at East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City.
He reiterated the health risk posed by the disease caused by the Leptospira bacteria found in water contaminated by the urine of affected rats.
READ: Metro Manila now under state of calamity due to Typhoon Carina
“Those floodwaters are dirty. No one should be swimming there unless they are rescuing someone or escaping for the safety of their lives,” Herbosa said as he directed DOH regional health centers to distribute doxycycline, an antibiotic used for leptospirosis, to local governments.
He also ordered the release to evacuation centers of “Campolas” Plus kits which contain antibiotics, mefenamic acid, paracetamol, oral rehydration salts, Lagundi tablets, hypertension drugs, and skin ointment.
Appeal for help
The Catholic Church’s social action arm has asked the faithful to help people severely affected by floods.
“Together, we stand in solidarity with affected families, striving to bring them comfort and hope in the wake of this disaster,” Caritas Philippines said in a statement.
It added that it was collaborating with dioceses to ensure the swift delivery of aid, as it called on partners to do the same.
Diplomats from the United States, China, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and Australia, meanwhile, extended their sympathies to Filipinos affected by the typhoon with some offering assistance.
US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson in a post on X on Wednesday said the embassy had coordinated with different agencies to extend aid.