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PCB health screening draws 110 residents
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Posted on May 11 2000
Close to a 110 Tanapag residents have already visited the PCB village clinic since the Department of Public Health began its screening Monday.
The outreach has given residents newfound assurance that their needs are finally being recognized, Dr. Richard Brostrom said yesterday afternoon, in between patients.
Dr. Brostrom, head of the medical team assigned to conduct the health evaluations, expressed gladness over the positive turn-out the outreach is getting from the nearby community.
“People have come like we asked them to,” he said.
Results of the screening for the first set of residents evaluated have yet to be completed, according to the doctor.
“Most of the results are confidential information so we can’t talk about it. But we don’t have it or any of the blood work yet,” he added.
The medical team has worked out a carefully mapped out plan distinguished by color in accommodating residents living on different parts of Tanapag.
The first set of residents have already been served from Monday until yesterday.
Today and tomorrow, residents living in the area marked yellow will be entertained.
“We’ll probably be busy again because there’s a lot of people for their day to come,” said Dr. Brostrom.
He, however, lamented over not seeing as many kids come to the clinic for the health evaluations.
“We have been seeing some kids in here but not as many as we’d like,” he said.
Dr. Brostrom is encouraging more people to avail of the health screening at the newly opened clinic.
The health screening is being conducted free for the residents of Tanapag.
This outreach program is being spearheaded by DPH with assistance from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
The medical team administers the health screening by taking two blood samples from the residents. One will be subjected to 22 different types of tests which include liver, kidney, blood sugar, cholesterol and will be sent to Guam for analysis.
The other tube will be for PCB testing to be shipped to the mainland for analysis in a laboratory that specializes in the toxic chemical.
Results of the blood tests will be provided in about two months. (MM)
