Respiratory Illness Affects Bohol Evacuees

More than a month since the 7.2-magnitude earthquake, thousands of Boholanos are still living in tents or in evacuation centers. And health officials, who attended to them recently, noticed that most of the evacuees are suffering from respiratory problems like pneumonia and cold.

“This is as expected because they don’t have homes, they have to stay at the evacuation centers,” shared Health Secretary Enrique Ona, who was recently in Tagbilaran City.

Apart from respiratory illness, there were also patients who complained of fever, fractures, hypertension and diabetes. Ona said after the Oct. 15 quake, they have attended 29,283 patients, of which 10,170 were outpatients. The DOH also recorded 3,081 patients who underwent mental health and psycho-social care.

Meanwhile, Ona said despite the fact that all 14 hospitals in Bohol were destroyed by the quake, medical services, albeit in makeshift tents, continued. He also denied there was shortage of medicine.

“There is no shortage of medicines here in Bohol,” Ona said.

(Image Credit: www.rappler.com)