KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews / 9 June) – Health authorities have monitored 11 dengue cases in a village here during the onset of heavy rains last week, Mayor Joseph Evangelista said.
The mayor said that while the city government is on its fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), another health issue has surfaced, which he said is also as lethal as the new virus.
The dengue cases were monitored in Barangay Ginatilan.
The problem, however, is that the City Blood Bank is not capable of providing blood platelets to those who need transfusion, Evangelista said, as the refrigerated centrifuge there was no longer functional since May 5.
A patient needing platelet transfusion will have thus to be brought to bigger hospitals located in Davao City or Cotabato City.
Evangelista explained that his office has since requested the Sangguniang Panlungsod for the approval of a supplemental budget worth P13 million, half of which was supposed to be allotted for the purchase of a brand new refrigerated centrifuge.
A centrifuge is a laboratory device that is used for the separation of fluids, gas or liquid, based on density. It is also used to separate the components of blood, including red blood cells, platelets, and plasma.
The Sanggunian, however, failed to approve the release of such supplemental budget, according to Evangelista.
On Monday, a special session was called for to discuss the approval of such budget.
Reports said the session started at 9:08 a.m., but around 12 noon, when the council was supposed to deliberate on the issue, the presiding officer had asked for a recess.
The session was supposed to resume around 5 p.m., or a lull of 4 hours, but still, the council failed to give the proposal the green light.
Also part of the supplemental budget was allotted for food and drinks to thousands of frontliners, purchase of personal protective equipment, disinfectant, and other medical supplies to fight COVID-19.
“We just hope and pray that we won’t have many severe dengue cases that need platelet transfusion, or else, we will transfer them to bigger hospitals with refrigerated centrifuge,” Evangelista said.
In June 2019, the city was declared under a state of calamity because of the high number of dengue cases. (Malu Cadelina Manar / MindaNews)