ANGELES City Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin, Jr. wants to promote an immunized community, in a bid to protect Angeleños from any diseases.
With this, he lauded the mass flu vaccination and health education activity of some senior citizens here at the EPZA covered court, Barangay Pulung Cacutud, dubbed as “Serbisyong Pangkalusugan Para Kay Lolo at Lola.”
“The City, in my administration, will continue to partner with various institutions, may it be private or public, to provide improved health programs to my constituents,” he said.
This kind of activity, according to Lazatin, will be continuous through the City Health Office, Office of the Senior Citizen Affairs (OSCA), Gender and Development (GAD) Office, City Nutrition Office (CNO), among others, which would strengthen the health programs to reduce the risk of acquiring diseases and to sustain health stability.
“Prevention is better than cure. Vaccinations are against a certain disease. Let us initiate the preventive health management system by encouraging our constituents to invest on their health,” he urged.
The mayor also mentioned that he will push for the social pension of senior citizens in 2020, as part of his Way Forward programs. “I will allocate of P10 million for the social pensions of seniors,” he added.
Meanwhile, for First District Representative Carmelo “Jon-Jon” Lazatin II, improving the wellbeing of the elderly is one of the priority thrusts in Pampanga.
“Free flu vaccination is one of our regular undertakings as we want to raise the awareness of the importance of preventing pneumonia and other complications caused by the flu virus, especially among our valued Angeleño elderly. We are proud to partner with different institutions to maintain the success of our health programs,” he furthered.
Facilitating the activities were officers and medical teams from the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV) and the Philippine College of Geriatric Medicine (PCGM).
These organizations enabled senior citizens education on elderly nutrition, immune system care, and the fatal complications arising from the influenza virus that can cause flu-related complications.
According to PCGM President Dr. Edwin Fortuno, seasonal flu-related hospitalizations and deaths predominantly hit those who are 65 years and older.
“Those who contract flu at that age will most likely experience complications that can lead to severe pneumonia, dehydration and exacerbation of chronic conditions like heart disease and asthma that can possibly result in hospitalization and death,” Fortuno said.
The PCGM urged more Filipinos nationwide to take the flu virus seriously as it leads to often fatal complications not just in the elderly but also particularly among infants and young children as well as adults with compromised immune systems brought about by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD), emphysema, and asthma, among others.
WHO also states that flu vaccines are safe and effective and have been used for more than 60 years. (PR)