Monday, February 12, 2007
Baguio hygiene clinic best in RP
THE Baguio City Social Hygiene Clinic (BCSHC) has been considered as the best hygiene clinic in the country.
The assessment conducted recently by the Family Health International (FHI) in collaboration with the National Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome-Sexually Transmitted Infection (Aids-STI) Prevention and Control Program of the Department of Health (DOH) and the National STI Technical Committee disclosed that the city's hygiene clinic to have "fared comparatively better compared to the other SHCs assessed. Only BCSHC provides all essential services expected of a social hygiene clinic.
There are 10 social hygiene clinics in the cities of Zamboanga, Pasay, Quezon, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Davao, Baguio, Angeles and Cebu.
The social hygiene clinics were put up to provide acceptable, accessible and effective preventive and curative STI services in response to the silently growing threat of STIs including human immunodeficiency virus-Aids (HIV/Aids) and also to improve the quality of services and interventions for vulnerable populations and to expand services to wider range of clients.
"The city's SHC was recognized because of our adherence to the standards set by the manual of procedures for social hygiene clinics and endeavors to improve services especially on the processes and strategies on behavioral change communication," said BCSHC head Celia Flor Brillantes.
She said the public should be informed and avail of the services offered by the BCSHC, which include vaginal and cervical smear, syphilis testing, papsmear and breast examination, counseling, family planning, contact tracing, STI/HIV/Aids education, medical consultation and examination, and skin infection consultation.
"For our commercial sex worker clients, we have introduced a dress code that we strictly enforce during their clinic visits to render them less conspicuous and respectable so that we will be able to convince the freelance sex workers to visit the clinic," she said. (AK)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (February 12, 2007 issue)
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