Medical Dental Mission from PCSO
Medical missions are a common practice here in the Philippines. Oftentimes, free circumcision, especially during summer, comes along with it. And as anything with the word “FREE” in it,these missions surely receive positive consideration from people. Juan and Juana will line up at the onset of dawn just to have a tablet or two of what is given for free. And they will hoard these medicines along with several others taken from the past in preparation for an upcoming illness.
Do people really benefit from such missions? Maybe yes with the dental part and the circumcision. But I have my reservations with regards to the medical part.
Take the case of the mission sponsored by the PCSO. The only available medicines were amoxicillin, paracetamol, mefenamic acid, and metoprolol. There is a very high level of resistance of Filipinos to amoxicillin. When a patient suffering from chronic cough and colds with on and off fever comes along and that patient will only be given amoxicillin without a cough and cold preparation, that person will surely not recuperate. If the doctor gives amoxicillin together with a prescription for cough and colds, there would be complains. More so if everything is given in prescription form.
What if a patient is suffering from dizziness, a very common complaint of geriatrics? What will be the choice of medicine from the list? Or a case of diarrhea? Or abdominal pain, which oftentimes is acidic in nature?
If only PCSO sent the money to the local government and allowed them to choose and purchase the appropriate medicines (with supervision of course!), then it could have been better.
Tags: denta mission, free, illness, medical mission, patient, PCSO, sick