THE Department of Health (DOH) has allotted some P142 million in assistance for victims of Typhoon Kristine, Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said on Friday.
Part of this is the P97 million worth of medical and public health emergency supplies deployed to needy communities, the official said.
“Of the goods that we have deployed, we have actually sent out 97 million pesos-worth of medical supplies and public health emergency supplies,” he told President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. during a situation briefing in Malacañang.
On top of that, the agency spent Php36 million for water sanitation and hygiene.
“These are the blue jerry cans that we see in the evacuation centers. One can per family, and you just put one aqua tab and it’s potable also to replace our water filtration na hindi pa dumadating to provide drinking water for our people,” he said.
The DOH also has allocated P6.8 million for nutrition and P1.8 million for psychosocial support.
Code blue alert
Meanwhile, Herbosa said the DOH has raised a ‘code blue’ alert over Cagayan Valley, Bicol region, and Ilocos Region, after Severe Tropical Cyclone Kristine brought heavy rains and flooding this week.
Code blue is DOH’s highest response to disaster, which prompts coordinated medical response efforts, he said.
Metro Manila, Central Luzon, MIMAROPA, Western Visayas remain under white code alert, he added.
“We’ve activated actually Code Blue. Code Blue is our highest response to our disaster in Cagayan Valley, in Bicol, and Ilocos. We maintain Code White in the NCR, in Central Luzon, MIMAROPA, Western Visayas,” he said.
In his report, Herbosa said most of the mortality reports come from the Bicol region.
“Eleven of the 15 deaths are from Bicol, and half of them were from the landslide. Of the recorded injuries, mostly mga wounds ito, you know, when people [are] rescued out of their homes from floods, they get injured,” he said.
Minor damages were reported to medical facilities in areas affected by the typhoon, he said, adding that they remain functional. These included Barangay Health Station Ucab, Bunot, Bantay and Betwagan in the Cordillera Administrative Region, the Caba District Hospital in Ilocos region, Batangas Provincial Hospital and Magalona BHS in Calabarzon, and Bicol Medical Center and Bicol Regional Medical Center in Bicol region.
