Victims of firecracker related incidents down-DOH
Iloilo -- While the numbers of victims of firecracker related incidents have been reduced as monitored from two sentinel sites in Iloilo and Negros Occidental, the Department of Health, however, considers their efforts only partially successful.
Dr. Pauline Ubial, Assistant Regional Director of DOH, said that their target is zero number of cases for firecracker related incidents and victims of stray bullets,.
It will be recalled that DOH launched in December the "Iwas Paputok Month that called for a safe celebration of the Holidays. It also emphasized the "FOURmula Kontra Paputok" to avoid accidents and loss of life.
Figures from the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City showed that there were only 19 victims of firecracker blasts down from 47 in the previous year. There were eight victims of stray bullets who came from Iloilo City and two from the province of Iloilo. Many of the victims came from the district of Molo. The youngest victim was over a year-old baby girl.
In Negros Occidental, although the figures from the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Hospital decreased, there were still 31 victims of firecracker related incidents, and one victim of stray bullets.
The DOH revealed that most of the victims of the firecracker incidents were below twenty years of age. (PIA6)