HEEDING the call of Mayor Herbert Bautista for support in addressing the dengue outbreak in Quezon City, considered as one of the ‘dengue hot spots’ in the country, having a high number of dengue cases, the SM Group of Companies, through the SM Foundation, donated 120 boxes of intravenous fluids to the Novaliches District Hospital and the Quirino Memorial Hospital.
According to Novaliches District Hospital Director Eduardo Aldana, there have been 202 admitted patients in the hospital in his 30-bed hospital with 79 outpatients suspected of carrying the deadly disease; while in the Quirino Memorial Hospital, Dr.Angeles de Leon has 250 patients in a 90-bed pediatric ward so that patients have spilled into the Felicidad Sy Wellness Center wing of the hospital. She has allowed the use of folding beds within the ward and the FS Wellness Center just to accommodate dengue victims, majority of which are children.
According to Connie Angeles, SM Foundation executive director for health and medical programs, the donation is SM’s gesture of support to the public-private partnership in the delivery of health services. She said: ‘Dengue is not just a community problem but is the concern of everyone:’The foundation would, likewise, donate intravenous fluids for those hospitalized in government hospitals in Manila.
Left photo shows Mayor Bautista (center) and Dr.Aldana (left) while receiving boxes of IV Fluids from Angeles. Right photo shows De. De Leon and Dr. Marrieta Reyes receiving the boxes of fluids from Angeles and Aldrin Cuna, chief of staff of Mayor Bautista.