By Gideon C.
Corgue
Rotary Club of Pagadian president John Steve Aleman said during the press conference held at Sunburst restaurant here that they want to help the underprivileged and marginalized sectors in our society.
Aleman said the PAMA, an association of Filipino-Australian doctors committed in providing charitable activities and humanitarian aid in the Philippines contacted him requesting the Rotary Club of Pagadian to help the association by providing logistical support in the slated medical mission to be held in Zamboanga del Sur Medical Center (ZSMC), barangay Dao and in the rural health unit in the municipality of Aurora.
Aleman said since the club is a community service organization, the officers and members granted the request without hesitation.
“We accepted the challenge of having the medical mission without any hesitation in order for us to help our poor people who could not afford to pay for expensive surgery,” Aleman said.
UP-Ugnayan ng Pahinungod, on the other hand, is the volunteer service arm of UP
Meanwhile, Rotary Club of Pagadian past president Dr. Reynaldo Ortiz, said the medical mission has 50 medical experts and health care professionals. It is divided in two groups: one group composed of 25 from PAMA and the other 25 from
Ortiz said the volunteer medical professionals composed of plastic surgeons will do cleft lip and cleft palate surgery; Ob-Gyne doctors will perform fibroid removal myomectomy; ophthalmologists, will do cataract surgery; and a number of general surgeons will perform thyroid surgery.
“During the surgery, we will have local doctors from the Zamboanga del Sur Medical Society (ZSMS) who will be assisting the volunteers,” Ortiz reported.
Ortiz said the PAMA is offering free surgical operations to the poorest of the poor patients.
“The PAMA has offered surgery to the patients, free. The patients won’t spend even a single centavo except for the medical tests because there is no free screening tests given in the hospital,” Ortiz explained.
Ortiz said major surgery is very expensive. “These procedures usually cost P80,000 to 100,000 in private hospitals,” he added.
“Not everyone can afford to have an operation. And what would be more fitting than to give back to the Filipino community what we have learned in training that we’ve got from our medical schools in our country,” Ortiz said quoting Fabian.
A total of 150 patients will be subject to major operation.
Ortiz thanked the provincial government through Governor Antonio Cerilles for actively supporting the noble endeavor by providing free meals for the patients and to ZSMC chief Dr. Rovelle Blancia for providing rooms for the mission. (JPA/GCC-PIA9, ZamboSur)