THE Committee on Health of Cagayan de Oro City proposed the regulation of tattoo industry in the city, particularly in the reuse of needles.
City Councilor Jay Pascual said the proposed regulation was created to lessen the problem of tattoo artists reusing the needles in order to prevent the transfer of diseases such as Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (Aids).
"Kung mag reuse ng needles, baka yung diseases na makukuha mata-transfer sa iba (If the needles were reused, the infected needle will become a tool to transfer the diseases to the next person it will be used for). So we are just regulating... mag survey kami (we will conduct a survey)," Pascual said.
Pascual said the committee on health, chaired by City Councilor Ma. Lourdes Gaane, has invited people from the tattoo industry to ask for their input on the said proposed regulation.
"Some people daw they take out the needle, hinuhugasan lang (they just wash the needles) and then they reseal it. Kasi ngayon (Because nowadays) you can just buy a sealer for the needles and when they open it, parang brand new. A lot of problems were raised regarding that, na people when they used the needle magagamit nila sa ibang costumers (that there are people who reuse their needles to other costumers)," Pascual said.
Although, he added, there are still some who changes the needles they will be using because of the used needles are already damaged.
The city councilor said the tattoo artists were even asking for the City Government to interfere on the problem in the tattoo industry.
"Gustong gusto talaga ng mga tattoo artists na meron talagang from the city, from DOH (Department of Health), na magbigay ng parang awareness para sa tattoo industry na when you get a tattoo dapat malinis yung needles (The tattoo artists were really asking that there should be someone from the city, from the DOH, to conduct awareness for the tattoo industry regarding the cleanliness of the needles), proper hygiene, proper equipment for the tattoo, proper your ink, kasi may mga ink na fake na makakasira sa skin (because there are fake inks that can damage the skin). So they want the City Government to interfere," Pascual said.
He added that two weeks from now, they will be calling a public meeting with the tattoo artists to further discuss the regulation.
The Committee on Health, on Thursday, February 1, conducted a meeting wherein the proxy consent on Aids testing and the codification of the City Health Code were discussed.
If the proposal was approved and the regulation will be implemented, Pascual said they will conduct a massive campaign through social media, news and leaflets to spread awareness to the public.
He added that the City Government and the Department of Health (DOH) will also monitor tattoo shops and on-call or house-to-house tattoo artists in the city to make sure they were following the regulation.
According to Pascual, at present, there are still no records on HIV/Aids cases wherein reuse of needles by tattoo artists was involved.
"Wala pa na record but the DOH naggawa ng statement na (There are no recorded cases but the DOH made a statement that) if you have an open wound, hepatitis B and A and HIV will likely to spread becuase open wound and blood to blood contact, 100 percent daw yung pag transmit (a 100 percent transmition)," Pascual said.
For the past years, Northern Mindanao has been in the top 10 ranks in HIV growth rate in the Philippines, with Cagayan de Oro City being an HIV-Aids "hotspot."