To maximize the availability of rabies vaccines throughout the province, the Provincial Health Office aims to put up animal bite treatment centers in all province-run hospitals in Cebu.
Out of the 16 district and provincial hospitals in Cebu, only the provincial hospitals in Bogo City and Balamban town as well as the Dr. Jose Maria Borromeo Memorial Hospital in Pinamungajan town have no such facilities.
There are around 30 Animal Bite Treatment Centers (ABTC) all over the province, including those in the hospitals, rural health units and city health offices.
Genosolango said she doesn’t want residents to have to go to nearby towns or other health units just because the rabies vaccine is not available in the nearest hospital.
While this isn’t necessarily a problem, she said she doesn’t want it to be the setup.
“Why do you have to be referred to another when you can just have a vaccine in the hospital in your town?” she said.
Doctors and nurses from the three hospitals without ABTCs will undergo training within this year as a prerequisite to establishing the facility.
There will be no need to build a separate office. Existing medical personnel only need to have the expertise.
Genosolango said that all other units in the province had their training more than six years ago.
“When a training was called for, the three hospitals were not able to send representatives mainly because they couldn’t leave their posts. There was a conflict in schedules,” she explained.
March is National Rabies Awareness Month in the Philippines.
Rabies is a deadly viral disease mainly spread by animal bites, but there is also exposure through contamination of broken skin or mucous membranes with the saliva of an infected animal.
The PHO recorded eight rabies-related deaths in Cebu province from 2014 to 2015.