ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Department of Health (DOH) inaugurated Friday two newly-acquired modern equipment worth PHP230 million at the cancer center of the government-run Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC). DOH Assistant Secretary, Dr. Romeo Ong led the inauguration of the Linear Accelerator and Brachytherapy equipment worth PHP197 million and PHP33 million, respectively. A linear accelerator (LINAC) is a machine that is commonly used to deliver external beam radiation treatments to cancer patients. The LINAC can target and destroy cancerous cells in a precise area of a patient’s body with minimal exposure to the surrounding healthy tissue. The Brachytherapy machine is
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Millennial doctors, aged between 25 and 40, are sparing some of their time from regular hospital and clinic duties to help the local government and the Department of Health here speed up the Covid-19 vaccination drive. In a featurette by the City Information Office on Friday, Dr. Kristine Angeli Llacuna, 30, said she and her colleagues volunteered because they wanted to be part of the solution to the pandemic. “I encourage more health care workers, more doctors, to join us in the fight against Covid-19. The sooner we do this, the more of us who
DUMAGUETE CITY – The province of Negros Oriental on Friday received its first batch of Pfizer BioNTech vaccines for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) from the national government. Gov. Roel Degamo, Dr. Socrates Villamor, provincial chief of the Department of Health; and Dr. Liland Estacion, assistant provincial health officer, received the 195 vials which arrived at the Dumaguete-Sibulan airport, a media release from the Capitol said. The delivery is the initial Pfizer allocation from the National Vaccination Operations Center and is good for 1,117 doses (one vial is equivalent to six doses) and will all be given as the first dose to
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will prioritize teachers inoculated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines in their hiring of personnel to serve in the 2022 synchronized national and local elections. Lawyer Ian Lee Ananoria, Antique Provincial Election Supervisor III, on Friday said while vaccination is voluntary, hiring inoculated teachers not only ensure their health and safety but the voters’ welfare as well. “We are urging the Department of Education (DepEd) teachers to have themselves vaccinated so that they would be ready to serve during the election day,” he said in an interview. In
CEBU CITY – A Department of Health (DOH) official in Region 7 (Central Visayas) on Friday dismissed reports of alleged unfair allocation of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines to local government units (LGUs), stressing that distribution is based on an established plan and supply. Dr. Van Philip Baton, the DOH-7 medical program coordinator for infectious diseases, denied that there is unfair distribution by the Visayas Vaccination Operations Center (VVOC), a coordinating body established to streamline inoculation rollout in the three regions of the Visayas. “The allocation for the municipalities is sub-allocated by the province,” Baton said in response to media
MANAOAG, Pangasinan – The owners of an ice cream shop in this town had to introduce new flavors – such as sampaguita and carrots – and change their marketing strategy to cope with the effects of the pandemic. Couple Reynante and Delma Sampaga opened their Reydel Ice Cream shop in Barangay Baritao here back in 1995 and it has remained in business. Reynante used to be an ice cream pushcart vendor in Zambales and he used this experience to put up his own ice cream store. “Noong nagpunta sa amin si Congressman Toff (Christopher de Venecia), nag-suggest siya na gawin
