Monday, June 09, 2008 Medical mission: Hilongos, 2009 By Emmanuel “Iman” A. Lat, M.D. Dreams do come true
COMMUNICATION is power and this column will serve as a forum to communicate with like-mind people who wish to make dreams come true in the Philippines.
One of our dreams is for those patients in the Philippines who cannot afford surgery to finally get their condition alleviated.
Those children with cleft lips or those adults with large thyroids should finally obtain relief.
We see many medical missions in the Philippines and we are thankful for that. However, we have to make sure that we do no harm during these missions. We do not want to harm the very people we want to help: the patients and also the doctors who will continue to care for them after the missions have come and gone. We have to make sure that the patients are indigent as we do not want to steal patients from the local doctors.
For this reason, we rely on local doctors and the social service to come up with the list of patients.
Our next mission is in the southern part of the province of Leyte, in the town of Hilongos . It will be held Feb. 15-20, 2009.
Just like the successful mission that was held Feb. 16-20 this year in Lanao del Norte, this mission will be a joint effort of University of the Philippines Medical Alumni Society in America (UPMasa), Handog Ngiti Gift of Smile Foundation, Inc.(HNGS), Sukob and Ugnayan ng Pahinungod.
HNGS is a foundation that is recognized in the United States and in the Philippines and is dedicated to provide free cleft lip and palate repair for indigent patients.
Sukob is a foundation with a blindness prevention program. Ugnayan ng Pahinungod is the “program of the University of the Philippines that institutionalizes volunteerism among UP constituents through the rendering of free services to communities in greatest need.”
The preparation for this mission started back in November 2007 with a four-hour boat ride from Cebu City to Hilongos for the site visit. The purpose of the site visit was to make sure that the mission site qualified for a medical mission.
We met with the local doctors to make sure that they needed and welcomed us. We had to make sure that the local government wanted us and would support us. We wanted to make sure that our medical volunteers would be safe and would be able to provide service in a secure environment.
We are now laying the groundwork for the coming medical mission. Our volunteers pay for their own transportation and for their housing, if needed. We expect our hosts to provide the food and security.
At present, the patients in the southern part of Leyte are registering. A list of these patients, along with their diagnoses, are being made. Based on the number of patients and their problems, the mission group will come up with a list of doctors to provide the necessary services, materials, equipment and medications.
For communication, we make text messages and e-mails. Volunteers and patients in the Philippines can text us at 0915-889-5873. The e-mail address is EmmanuelLatMD@aol.com.
