BACOLOD City Councilor Cindy Rojas urged the City Health Office (CHO) and the Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD) to intensify the information and education drive regarding the importance and availability of vaccines against poliovirus.
Rojas, chairperson of the City Council committee on health, said on September 19, the Department of Health (DOH) declared a polio epidemic after it recorded a case of the disease in Lanao del Sur.
She said it is the country's first confirmed case after 19 years of being polio-free.
Polio or poliomyelitis is a highly contagious disease caused by poliovirus invading the nervous system.
Symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiff neck, and sudden onset of floppy arms or legs. In severe cases, it can lead to permanent paralysis or even death. Children under five years of age are most vulnerable to the disease.
Rojas stressed that the CHO and the DSSD are the implementing arms of Bacolod City in ensuring that Bacolodnons are accorded with the benefit of having a dynamic and responsive healthcare program, and basic social services.
Rojas said Republic Act (RA) 7160 or the Local government Code of 1991 provides that every local government unit shall exercise the powers expressly granted, those necessarily implied therefrom, and those which are essential to the promotion of the general welfare.
Meanwhile, the Bacolod City Council approved a resolution enjoining the CHO to facilitate the observance of the National Mental Health Week in the city.
The resolution, authored by Rojas, stated that RA 11036 or the Mental Health Law provides for a mental health policy that aims to enhance integrated mental health services, promote mental health services, and protect people who use the said services.
She said the purpose of the celebration is to promote overall wellness of all Filipinos, prevent mental, psychosocial and neurologic disorders, substance abuse and other forms of addiction, and improve access to quality care and recovery.