Out of 60,000 elderly, 10 get initial vaccine

CEBU, Philippines - At least 10 senior citizens in Cebu City have received free vaccination against pneumonia yesterday, as part of fortifying prevention of the disease listed as among the top morbidity and mortality causes on adults in the country.

City Health Officer, Dr. Stella Ygonia, said pneumonia, a lung inflammation caused by bacterial or viral infection, is actually affecting the health of Cebuanos but is not much highlighted.

“We actually have more pneumonia fatalities in a year compared with dengue patients. Which is why we are strengthening the program against pneumonia to stop it from claiming the lives of Cebuanos,” Ygonia said.

The vaccination was held inside the mayor’s conference room where Office of Senior Citizen Affairs (OSCA) chief, Rolando Llaguno, gathered the pre-selected 10 initial recipients.

Cebu City got 10,000 vaccine kits from Department of Interior and Local Governance (DILG) and the city health official said this will be spread to different barangays.

The city is composed of about 60,000 senior citizens and Ygonia said the selection of vaccine recipients will be based on the recommendation and assessment of the offices of the Department of Social Services and OSCA.

Mayor Michael Rama, for his part, stressed the need to continue preventing pneumonia especially among young children and senior citizens whose immune systems are usually compromised.

“I wish for sustainability in this program. This way, we meet our mission of restoring the trust of the youth and children towards the government,” Rama said.

PhilHealth records also show that the highest cases of PhilHealth claims belonged to cases of pneumonia with about 300,000 in 2011 and 295,000 the year prior.

Consequently, the cost of treatment claims for the same fatal respiratory disease in 2011 went as high as P2.4 billion as opposed to the previous year with P2 billion.

In Cebu City, Councilor Mary Ann delos Santos yesterday announced that the city government has vaccinated 500 senior citizens in 2011, the following year with 1,000, and this year has so far 1,000 as of the third quarter. (FREEMAN)