BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO – The 2nd District was chosen as a community model of the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 for the prevention of blindness and promotion of health and wellness for persons with disabilities (PWDs).
According to Dr. May Ann Sta. Lucia of DOH, the district has been effective in implementing Essential Non-Communicable Diseases (ENCD) programs of the department.
Based on the 2010 Census of Population and Housing, out of 2nd District’s total population of 284,410, 1,422 were bilaterally blind and 853 had cataracts.
The 2nd District is composed of Alimodian, Leganes, Leon, New Lucena, Pavia, San Miguel, Sta. Barbara and Zarraga.
DOH wants to reduce the prevalence of visual impairment especially among poor people who have limited access to health services.
The goal is to provide them access to needed health services so they will remain healthy despite their disability, thus become contributing members of society.
DOH aims to reduce the current prevalence of bilateral blindness to less than 0.5 percent.
Its specific objectives are to reduce the prevalence of cataract blindness by 50 percent by year 2016 and reduce blindness and visual impairment due to refractive errors by 10 percent per year by the year 2016.
Among the stakeholders for this are the provincial government of Iloilo, 2nd District, Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Optometrist Association of the Philippines, Integrated Philippine Association of Optometrists, Philippine Academy of Opthalmology, the Seventh Day Adventist, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Sta. Lucia said the program will commence within this year.
On the other hand, both the city and province of Iloilo are pilot areas for the Violence and Injury Prevention program.
Its main objective is to promote a culture of safety in key settings such as home, schools, workplaces, and communities.
At the regional level, according to DOH, injuries of all forms rank number three in terms of morbidity, and rank number seven in terms of mortality in 2012.
Sta. Lucia said DOH will conduct strategic planning workshop for the development of ENCD programs for community models, training on visual acuity for school nurses, training of trainors on primary eye care for municipal and provincial health officers and midwives, and monitoring and evaluation of community model project, and among others./PN
