24 May 2003 by Batch News Team
Here we go again, stemming from the wrong impression derived from misleading text
messages and irresponsible broadcasting, even doctors are becoming infected with
the so-called sarsophobia - the fear of SARS. Well, who would not be, given that
the disease has no formal definition yet and preventive medicine is not available,
let alone its cure?
But ignorance from the trusted doctors can always sow further panic as nobody
else could attend to a patient having been suspected with the SARS virus.
Take the case of a Greek national, aboard a ship which recently traveled from
China. After docking the ship in Mati, one of the crewmembers had fallen ill with
joint pains and high fever and was brought to Davao Oriental Provincial Hospital.
Upon knowing their port of origin (specifically China), stupid doctors began to
panic and asked the patient to transfer to another hospital notably for fear of
SARS outbreak, even that they had reasoned out that they do not have X-Ray machine
film at the time (remember, this is supposed to be the central hospital in the
entire province). So the poor patient was moved to another hospital namely St.
Camillus but when the incompetent staff learned about where they came from, the
patient was left alone in the X-Ray room with no one to attend to him.
Compounded by exaggerated reports from irresponsible media men and women, hospital
workers in the countryside have no clear idea of what is going on. People who
do nothing but waste money forwarding inaccurate text messages aggravate the situation.
Living in the world's second worst SARS affected area, I see what doctors and
nurses do, take care of patients while not compromising their health.
Even when they did that, many of them still fell down with this dreaded disease.
Worse, three already died.
Patients need encouragement, and proper attention. Perhaps the valid reasons hospital
authorities could provide is the lack of facilities to combat the disease. Never
mind the 1 billion peso pledge to combat which never came out as of this writing.
Doctors and nurses need to be more attentive to their professional obligations
as health workers.
If it was necessary to quarantine the hospital and isolate the suspected cases,
then do so rather than to let go of people who might really have the disease and
spread it out in the community. We can see such occurrences in Taiwan, Hong Kong
and Singapore.
When Joshua spent his vacation in Davao recently, there was no temperature check
at Davao International Airport, considering he came from Singapore. All the airport
people could do are ask if he had contact with SARS-infected people there. Get
over with all those stupid questions.And this is one reason I was unable to go
on vacation. The fear of rejection from peers, the (mandatory) voluntary quarantine
and all these nonsensical ideas are in my mind. When I went to Thailand, I was
not required to undergo quarantine because health authorities already verified
that I have no high fever upon entering their area of responsibility.
It should be done with the full force of the law if it be legislated. You remember
when the Philippine delegation went to Shanghai for a trade exhibition, congressmen
have loaded themselves with vitamins and upon their return, they underwent quarantine
for ten days which is very commendable, that even with obvious good health, they
cared enough to act like a common tao and not a traditional politician.
Good thing that the virus has not spread in the Philippines, because if it did…
Opinion Archives
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The Problem of SARS in the Philippines·
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What We Say About: MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando·
Geeks at Six: Moving Through Tough Times