Surgical mission benefits 600 patients in Davao Oriental

MATI CITY, Province of Davao Oriental (February 4, 2014) PIA —More than 600 indigent patients from across the province have benefited from the ongoing surgical mission conducted by the Provincial Government of Davao Oriental, conducted from Januart 30 to Februart 2.

Touted as the province’s biggest surgical mission, this sixth surgical mission is made possible through partnerships with some 69 surgeons and nurses from the different medical institutions that included the North Texas Association of Philippine Physicians who are based in the United States, the Operation Share International, and Singaporean doctors and medical students from Singapore National Hospital.

Rendering their services beyond borders, these surgeons will operate on patients with conditions such as hydrocele, hernia, cleft lip and palate, goiter, cysts, and other special cases such as rectal fistulas, colostomy repairs, and nasal polyp removal.

Making health as a flagship program of her administration, Governor Malanyaon organizes Surgical Mission each year intended for poor patients who can’t afford to pay for surgical operations in private hospitals.“Not everyone can afford to pay for these kinds of operations,” she said. “Procedures in private hospitals can cost up to P70, 000.00 while one pays a minimum of P35, 000.00 in public hospitals.”

Meanwhile, Governor Malanyaon announced that there would be another surgical mission set on August of this year to accommodate all indigent patients who need free surgical services.

“Last year, we have not conducted this since we have given all our attention and our efforts to the typhoon Pablo-hit towns,” she said. She also told patients, who have not passed the pre-screening because of underlying conditions that needed to be treated first, that they may avail on the forthcoming surgical mission.

Governor Malanyaon expressed her gratitude to the volunteer doctors and nurses who came all the way from different countries and far places just to give new hope to these patients, who for a long time endured their illnesses.

Meanwhile, the governor also thanked troops from the 67th and 28th Infantry Battalions under the 701st Brigade of the Philippine Army, who not only transported patients from far-flung villages down to the capital but also donated life-saving blood in a bloodletting activity in partnership with the Provincial Health Office and the Red Cross, which will be used for the surgeries.

Meanwhile, aside from the free surgical services, a medical mission is also being conducted in Purok Magsaysay, Barangay Central offering free medical consultation and free medicines to poor patients.

Governor Malanyaon told the residents to seize the opportunity of availing these free services being offered. (Karen Lou Deloso DAVOR PIO)