We view with profound concern the illegal arrest and torture of the 43 community health development workers in Morong, Rizal. Among them are the health professionals who decided to stay in our country despite the blatant lack of support system inherent in the State’s health care delivery system. This...

By GRACE S. UDDIN Davao Today Colleagues of Dr. Pe�era condemn his killing. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan) DAVAO CITY (davaotoday.com) � While more health workers chose to go abroad to look for greener pastures, Dr. Rogelio �Bong� Pe�era, 45, opted to stay. But on June 24 this year, his killers...

DAVAO CITY — The transport of a four-year old boy positive of AH1N1 influenza from Butuan City to the isolation ward of the Davao Medical Center (DMC) was made with utmost compliance to health protocols. DMC chief Leopoldo Vega M.D. said the young boy was transferred to Davao because the grandmother...

By GERMELINA A. LACORTE Davao Today DAVAO CITY�Peers of the slain AH1N1 doctor expressed alarm that the extrajudicial killings in the country no longer spare doctors and health workers giving services to the poor. Dr. Jean Lindo, the chair of the doctors� group Rx for Peace, said the death of Dr. Rogelio...

Two church health workers arrested By Media Mindanao News Service (August 15, 1987 News Digest Volume 1, August 1987-July 1988 Posted by Davao Today) KIDAPAWAN, North Cotabato (MMNS) — Two health workers, one of them a Dutch volunteer, of the diocese were arrested August 8 by military men, a belated...

DAVAO CITY — Cases of dengue fever registered a rise of 30 percent compared to the same period last year. Dr. Rogelio Pe�era, head of the Department of Health (DOH) Davao Preventive Emergency Management Unit and Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit said that the increase has been an annual trend...

By CHERYLL FIEL Davao Today DAVAO CITY – - -A doctor of the regional health office who headed the epidemiological research and surveillance department, the unit tasked to monitor and address the A (H1N1) flu cases, was shot dead in his car while going home last night. Dr. Rogelio �Bong� Pe�era, 46, was...

DAVAO CITY — The Department of Health (DOH) is planning to put up a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) laboratory that can detect A H1N1 influenza in swab samples taken from suspected cases. Dr. Leopoldo Vega, chief of the Davao Medical Center (DMC), said the DOH is planning to build two WHO-accredited...

DAVAO CITY — The 92-year old Davao Public Hospital building which currently houses the Davao Mental Hospital is set to get a much needed upgrading and facelift. Davao Medical Center (DMC) chief Dr. Leopoldo Vega, who oversees the regional psychiatric facility, said that a 100 million-peso budget has...

DAVAO Davao City — The Regional Development Council (RDC) has endorsed the establishment of the Mindanao Cancer Center (MCC) in the Davao Regional Hospital (DRH) in Tagum City, Davao del Norte. Acording to Dr. Romulo Busuego, DRH chief of hospital, the project is estimated to cost almost 500 million...

DAVAO CITY — To prevent the possible spread of influenza caused by the AH1N1 virus in the region, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) is asking employers to maintain a clean work area and provide water, soap and household disinfectant in washrooms and toilets. In a recent press...

QUEZON CITY — Assistant minority leader and Gabriela Women’s Party representative Liza Maza expressed alarm that US troops entering the Philippines would again use the US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) this time as a convenient excuse to be exempted from quarantine inspection despite the...

MANILA — “We do not have the disease (in our country).” This was the statement made by Malacanang advising people not to panic over swine flu officially known as Influenza A(H1N1), which the World Health Organization (WHO) says has 658 confirmed cases worldwide. Deputy presidential...

By CJ KUIZON Davao Today Davao City — The health department hopes to decrease by 75 percent the number of mothers who die during childbirth by increasing its pool of skilled birth attendants in the region. The Department of Health (DOH) has secured national funding for the Maternal Newborn, Child...

The campaign to go organic is getting the much needed boost as corporations take the lead in campaigning for a change in lifestyle among its employees. As part of its Earth Day 2009 celebration, Smart Communications, Inc. and its contact center partner, I-Contacts Corporation (I-con) teamed up to launch...

TAGUM CITY — Educating the public on aerial spraying turned up as the preferred step to be taken among various stakeholders of the banana industry who attended the recently held seminar on Science-Based Agriculture for Farm Enhancement (Safe) in Tagum City, Davao del Norte. The stakeholder prefer an...

DAVAO CITY — The number of mothers who die in childbirth has to go down in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) if the Philippines is to meet the Millenium Development Goal (MDG). ARMM has been coined as the worst place to be a mother, where 162 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births have...

The Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) regional office is testing samples of different brands of peanut butter and pistachio products imported from the United States to determine the presence of salmonella. Salmonella is a micro-organism, spread by poor sanitation and contamination with infected individuals....

DAVAO CITY — In this year’s State of Filipino Mothers Report, Davao City ranked one of the five best places to be a mother. The annual report seeks to find out which regions in the Philippines are succeeding or failing in saving the lives of mothers and, in turn, their children. Save the...

DAVAO CITY — In commemoration of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Davao Medical Center (DMC) in cooperation with Kythe Foundation, instigated a campaign that is aimed for early detection and public education on childhood cancer. According to DMC pediatric oncologist Dr. Mae Conception Dolendo, about...

Davao City — A center to cater to patients afflicted with multi-purpose drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) is currently being constructed in Davao City. The center is being erected at the Davao Medical Center (DMC) and is expected to be operational this year. It is capable of detecting...

Occupational health risks likely to rise in the outsourcing industry Occupational health dangers in the outsourcing industry is likely to increase as the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P) announced that companies may cut growth rates for next year because of the economic slowdown....

By the Policy Study, Publication, and Advocacy (PSPA) Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) Just when we all thought that the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) in Morong, Bataan had been permanently laid to rest by its being mothballed in 1992, now comes the “BNPP� Commissioning...

By CJ KUIZON | Davao Today DAVAO CITY – A non government health organization said improved sanitation facilities and better access to health services among the people will reduce the risk of leptospirosis once heavy rains set in again. Dr. Lynn Redoble, executive director of the Community Based Health...

A TRIBUTE TO MARLEY. Raymond Aranjuez, front man of the local Ragged band, performs at the Taboan in Matina Town Square during the free Reggae Night concert on Sunday, May 11. The date happens to be the death anniversary of Nesta Robert “Bob” Marley, the British-African reggae musician who...