Miriam urges upgrade of burn units in govt hospitals

MANILA, Philippines - Citing the lack of government facilities to treat burn patients, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago sought a Senate inquiry into the capacity of government hospitals to respond to such cases. In Resolution 813, Santiago said the probe should focus on the need for government hospitals to upgrade their burn units, adding that health experts have warned that the government is not prepared for "mass burn injuries." Santiago said government hospitals should have ample equipment and facilities to address medical situations "that concern mostly the poor and fulfill its policy of disaster-preparedness in the context of recent terrorist threats and activities within and outside the country." Santiago said according to medical experts, there was an increase in burn cases in the past years. In the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) alone, from 76 burn cases in 1993, the number grew to 149 in 1997, 252 in 2004, and 300 as of first half of December 2008. Most burn cases involved chemical blasts or flames, electrical burn and scalding, she noted. Despite this trend, however, Santiago said the country only has four hospitals that have burn units and these only have 35 beds each. The hospitals are the PGH in Manila, the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City, Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center in Manila, and Davao Medical Center in Davao City. These medical institutions are being run by the Department of Health. Santiago said some P20 million is needed to put up an ideal six-bed burn unit where a patient with major burn injuries needs P10,000 to P20,0000 for treatment on the average. Earlier reports showed firecracker is one of the major causes of burn incidents during the holidays. As of December 21, the Department of Health recorded 115 victims of fireworks or firecracker mishaps. Dr Eric Tayag, head of the DOH National Epidemiology Center, said half of those injured were children aged below 10 years old. - Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV