LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — More than 1,500 residents of remote Barangay Pogaruac in western Pangasinan province were served by the provincial government’s 2nd Kalusugan Karavan that arrived in their village last Friday.
Of the figure, 638 were children aged 0 to seven years old who were treated and given medicine for cough, colds and respiratory infections, as well as vitamin supplements.
The rest were adults, many of them aged 60 years and above, who were given anti-flu vaccines as well as free chest examinations and sputum tests as part of the province’s anti-tuberculosis campaign.
Three patients were referred to the nearest government hospital for hernia, goiter and cyst operations.
Ointments were also given to patients suffering from eczema, athlete’s foot and other skin diseases.
The 2nd Kalusugan Karavan was spearheaded by Pangasinan First Lady Karina Espino, who represented her husband Governor Amado Espino III, to bring quality health services to the doorstep of people in far-flung villages.
The caravan assembled health professionals from the provincial hospital and provincial health office to undertake the mercy mission targeting poor families in remote villages.
Barangay Pogaruac was chosen as a stop-over of the health caravan because it is 19 km. away from the town proper of Burgos, making it difficult for residents to access government health services.
The medical mission was the biggest to be conducted in Pogaruac, village chief Oswaldo Ginez said, as he thanked the provincial government for the help that it gave to his constituents. PNA-northboundasia.com