By Sitti Sheiba NY-Casan
VALENCIA CITY, Bukidnon: The Department of Health (DOH) Center for Health Development (CHD) in Northern Mindanao has broadened its reach in educating the masses about the disease and to combat false information to mitigate the spread of the virus.
DOH-10 Health Education and Promotion Officer Aian Rebollido Caridad said since COVID-19 has no vaccine yet, their office health promotion unit heightened its advocacy giving the public the right information through information drives.
Caridad said the importance of disseminating the correct information in combating “submicroscopic agents.”
As of April 14, DOH-10 has 4,174 posters and 1,914 tarpaulins plastered on strategic locations in the different local government units (LGUs) as well as private establishments, she said.
“So far, we’ve observed positive feedback to our information campaign especially when the IEC (Information, Education and Communication) materials are translated into the dialect or “Bisaya” for the masses to understand,” she added.
The posters in Bisaya contain the World Health Organization’s (WHO) verified information about the disease, its symptoms, prevention, and what to do in case of experiencing it.
“I just hope that people will take it to heart what we convey to them about COVID-19 so that all us can work together in fighting the disease,” Caridad appealed.
Recently, the Department of Science and Technology in Northern Mindanao (DOST-X) has strongly warned the public from using the mixture containing Zonrox bleaching liquid and Tanduay rhum as hand sanitizers.
Meanwhile, DOST-10 Regional Director Alfonso P. Alamban in a press briefing recently categorically renounced the claims of unscrupulous and self-declared chemists or businessmen that this mixture solution containing Zonrox bleaching liquid and Tanduay rhum is a very good substitute to commercial hand sanitizers.
DOST 10 Assistant Regional Director Romela N. Ratilla explained the technical differences and the ill-effects of the said mixture when used as sanitizer. “What are recommended for use as hand sanitizer are those solutions that have 70 percent alcohol content,” added Ratilla.
“With the very low alcohol content of Tanduay and mixing it to Zonrox bleaching liquid puts its solution into an unacceptable sanitizer and, with its bleaching agents, definitely not healthy to human skin,” she said.
Northern Mindanao is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region X, which comprises five provinces: Bukidnon, Camiguin, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, and Lanao del Norte, and the highly urbanized cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. (RSP)
