Anti-malaria measures sought at Hanjin shipyard

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — Alarmed by the death of a construction worker, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has asked workers and companies at the Hanjin shipyard in this premier Freeport to implement measures aimed at preventing malaria, a vector-borne disease caused by mosquito bites.

Dr. Solomon Jacalne, SBMA deputy administrator for health and safety, said malaria is "endemic" in the area, and so it is necessary to control the vector or the organism that causes the disease.

"The disease itself is caused by mosquito bites, and so what the residents and workers have to do is protect themselves from bites, and rid their areas of stagnant pools of water where mosquitoes breed," Jacalne said.

The SBMA health officer said that an anti-malaria program has been put in place at the Redondo Peninsula since last year when Hanjin began construction of its shipyard project in the area.

The anti-malaria program, Jacalne said, is being implemented by the Malaria Task Force (MTF), which provides free malaria screening and medicine.

The program also involves residual spraying of mosquito repellant in houses, distribution of chemically treated mosquito nets, mass blood smearing, and an information-education drive, Jacalne said.

The SBMA issued this statement to clarify reports that some workers employed by a Hanjin subcontractor have been downed by the disease, and that one death was recorded.

"If ever, these cases were not brought to our attention," Jacalne said.

"We have met with Hanjin executives and their sub-contractors, and we stressed that if a worker in the shipyard becomes ill, he should be screened first before he is sent home," he said.

Jacalne said that aside from the SBMA dispensary, the rural health unit (RHU) in Subic, Zambales provides free malaria screening.

SBMA said malaria has been endemic at the Redondo Peninsula, particularly Barangay Cawag, where the Hanjin shipyard is located.

During a medical mission conducted in the area in June 2006, SBMA doctors found that two of the four known types of malaria infected some of the residents.

The symptoms include epigastric pain, nausea, loss of appetite, and headache.

When Hanjin began the construction of the shipyard, SBMA sought the assistance of the Center for Health Development in Region 3 (CHD 3) in the effort to eradicate malaria in the peninsula. This led to the creation of the MTF last year.

The MTF is composed of health workers of SBMA and CHD 3, Subic RHU, Zambales provincial health office, Tropical Disease Foundation (TDF)-Global Fund Malaria, Hanjin, and the city health office of Olongapo. (Jonas Reyes - Manila Bulletin)

SBMA workers warned vs malaria

THE Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority urged residents and workers at the Hanjin shipyard site in Subic to take extra precaution to avoid malaria.

Dr. Solomon Jacalne, SBMA deputy administrator for health and safety, said malaria is “endemic” in the area.

“The disease itself is caused by mosquito bites, so what residents and workers have to do is protect themselves from bites and rid their areas of stagnant pools of water where mosquitoes breed,” Jacalne said.

He said an anti-malaria program has been in place at the Redondo Peninsula since last year as Hanjin began construction of its shipyard project.

The anti-malaria program is being implemented by a Malaria Task Force which provides free malaria screening and medicine, he said. J.V.Antiporda - Journal online

MANGAGAWA NG HANJIN SA SUBIC, PATAY SA MALARIA

Isa na namang manggagawa ng Hanjin shipbuilding project sa Subic Bay Freeport Zone ang namatay sa sakit na malaria noong isang araw.

Nakilala ang panibagong biktima ng sakit na malaria na si Rodel Dulay Ednalaga, 28 taong gulang, may tatlong anak at naninirahan sa Brgy. Aningway-Sakatihan, Subic, Zambales.

Ayon sa kanyang identification card mula sa Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd., siya ay isang taon nang nagtatrabaho bilang helper mechanic sa motorpool nito.

Pinauwi si Rodel mula sa kanyang trabaho noong Mayo 13 dahil sa kanyang lagnat at muling ipinatawag sa trabaho noong Mayo 16 para maekasamin sa clinic ng Hanjin.

Ayon sa First Aid Medical Slip ng Hanjin Clinic na may lagda ni D. Gonzales, isang registered nurse ay 10 araw na pala siyang nilalagnat kaya inirekomenda ang karagdagan pang pagsusuri.

Sa kibila ng karamdaman ni Rodel at sa halip na ihatid siya ng Hanjin Clinic ay mag-isang nagtungo si Rodel sa Municipal Health Center ng Subic. Doon nga ay nalaman sa isinagawang blood examination na siya ay may malaria.

Noong Linggo Mayo 18 ay saka pa lamang siya dinala ng kanyang pamilya sa San Marcelino District Hospital at dahil lalong lumalala ang kanyang karamdaman ay nagpasya ang pamilya na ilipat siya sa James Gordon Memorial Hospital noong Mayo 20 at doon na siya namatay.

Hanggang sa mga oras na ito ay wala pa ring anumang naibibigay na tulong ang Hanjin sa asawa ni Rodel na si Gemalyn Pahayahay at sa kanyang tatlong anak na sina Rodelyn, 3, Anthony, 5 at Hazel Rose, 2. Kasalukuyang nakaburol ang kanyang mga labi sa kanilang tahanan sa Brgy. Aningway, Subic, Zambales.

Ayon kay Fidel Ednalaga ay panganay si Rodel sa kanyang tatlong anak sa kanyang ikalawang asawa. Ang kanilang buong pamilya ay nagmula sa Brgy. Baloganon, Masinloc, Zambales.

Noong nakarang linggo lamang, dahil din sa sakit na malaria ay namatay si Mark Anthony Daan, 29 taong gulang at naospital naman ang anim na iba pa na pawang mga taga Brgy. Sta. Rita, Masinloc, Zambales at mga nagtatrabaho sa Less Builders na isang sub-contractor ng Hanjin.

Dahil dito ay nanawagan na si Ramon Lacbain II, Chairman ng Task Force Hanjin sa mga opisyales ng Hanjin, ng Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, mga lokal ng pamahalaan ng Subic, Olongapo City at lalawigan ng Zambales kasama na ang Department of Health na magsagawa ng mga agarang hakbang upang maiwasan ang susunod pang mamatay o magkakasakit dahil sa malaria.

“Nakakaawa din ang mga pamilya ng mga namamatay o nagkakasakit na mga mangagawa ng Hanjin sapagkat hindi nila alam kung saan sila kukuha ng pera o tulong mula sa Hanjin o sa mga subcontractors nito para sa pampagamot o pampalibing.

Masyadong maliit ang kanilang sinusweldo tapos magkakasakit pa sila at mas matindi pa kung sila’y mamamatay. Minsan nag-iisip na ang mga tao kung talaga bang tulong ang pagdating ng Hanjin dito sa Subic Bay o perwesyo lamang”, ayon kay Lacbain.

Mabuti na lamang at may ibang mga pamilya ang nagpapaabot sa kaalaman ng Task Force Hanjin tungkol sa pagkamatay o pagkakasakit dahil sa malaria ng kanilang mga kapamilya na nagtatrabaho sa Hanjin shipbuilding project, paano na lamang yong hindi na nagpapasabi baka mas marami pa palang maiiulat na apektado ng malaria.

Ayon sa ulat ng National Epidemiology Center ng Department of Health ay talagang endemic ang lamok na may dalang malaria sa tatlong mga barangay sa Subic, Zambales kagaya ng Naugsol, Aningway-Sakatihan at sa Cawag kung saan naroroon ang Hanjin shjipbuilding project na mayroong mga 13,000 mangagawa at patuloy pang dumarami.

Inirekomenda ng nasabing DOH sa Hanjin ang patuloy na pagbibigay kaalaman sa mga mangaggawa nito kung paano makakaiwas sa malaria at gayundin naman ang palagiang pagmomonitor at agarang paggagamot sa mga apektado ng malaria na mga mangagawa nito. Mon Lacbain - Task Force Hanjin

Malaria stalks Hanjin workers

By Henry Empeño - The Nation

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Officials of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) had warned employees at the Hanjin shipyard here that malaria, a disease transmitted by mosquito bite, is prevalent at the Redondo Peninsula, the site of the shipbuilding project that now employs some 17,000 workers.

In a statement on Tuesday, the SBMA urged workers and companies at the Hanjin shipyard to “take extra precaution and implement measures to prevent and combat malaria,” a vector-borne disease that, while not contagious, could be fatal.

The agency said Hanjin workers, as well as residents of the Redondo area, should avail themselves of malaria-screening tests that are administered for free by the SBMA and rural-health units in the town of Subic, Zambales.

“Malaria is endemic in the area, so it is necessary to control the vector, or the organism that transmits the disease germs,” stressed Solomon Jacalne, SBMA deputy administrator for health and safety.

“The disease itself is transmitted by mosquito bite, so what residents and workers have to do is protect themselves from bites, and rid their areas of stagnant pools of water where mosquitoes breed,” Jacalne said.

The SBMA issued the warning following reports that some workers employed by Less Builders, a Hanjin subcontractor, have succumbed to the disease last week.

According to Task Force Hanjin (TFH), a community group monitoring the Hanjin project, one of the infected workers died on May 14, 10 days after experiencing fever, chills and stomach pain.
The victim reportedly tested positive for plasmodium falciparum, a type of malaria that doctors say may cause kidney failure, seizure, coma and death if not promptly treated.

Two employees of Less Builders, who were also diagnosed with malaria, remained in the hospital as of last week, while four others have been discharged, the TFH said.

Jacalne pointed out, however, that the SBMA’s Public Health and Safety Department was not informed about the recent malaria cases at the Hanjin shipyard despite an ongoing malaria-control program at the Redondo area.

“We have met with Hanjin officials and their subcontractors and we stressed that should any worker in the shipyard becomes ill, he should be screened first before being sent home,” he said.
“The [recent] cases were not brought to the attention of SBMA authorities,” he stressed.

Jacalne said a malaria-control program has been in place at the Redondo Peninsula since last year, as Hanjin started construction of its shipyard in the area.

The program is being implemented by the Malaria Task Force (MTF), a body composed of health workers from the SBMA, the Center for Health Development in Central Luzon (CHD-CL), the Subic Rural Health Unit (RHU), the Zambales provincial health office, the Tropical Disease Foundation (TDF)-Global Fund Malaria, Hanjin and the city health office of Olongapo.

The task force provides for free malaria screening and medicines, implements preventive-control measures like residual spraying of mosquito repellant in houses, distribution of chemically treated mosquito nets, mass blood smearing and information and education drive, said Jacalne.

Aside from the SBMA Dispensary, the Subic RHU also provides free malaria screening, he added.

The SBMA also said that malaria has long been endemic at the Redondo Peninsula, particularly barangay Cawag, where the Hanjin shipyard is located.

In a medical mission to the area in June 2006, SBMA doctors found that two of the four known types of malaria have infected some of the residents there.

However, some residents have refused to use chemically-treated mosquito nets provided free by the RHU “because the nets added to the effect of summer heat,” health workers said.

When Hanjin began construction of the shipyard in 2006, SBMA health officials sought the assistance of the CHD-CL to help eradicate malaria in the peninsula, leading to the creation of the MTF last year.

As of May 14, the task force has reportedly screened 4,519 residents and workers at Redondo, including 864 workers at the Hanjin apartment complex.

Of this total, 239 individuals had tested positive, with three cases having been treated, Jacalne said. The free medicine were provided by CHD-CL and TDF.

CONSTRUCTION WORKER SA HANJIN SHIPBUILDING PATAY

ISANG CONSTRUCTION WORKER SA HANJIN SHIPBUILDING PATAY AT 6 NA IBA PA
NAOSPITAL DAHIL SA MALARIA

Masinloc, Zambales, Isang construction worker sa Hanjin shipbuilding project sa Subic, Zambales na si Mark Anthony Daan, 28 taon gulang ang namatay dahil sa sakit na malaria noong Mayo 14.

Maliban kay Mark Anthony ay naospital naman ang 6 pang kasamahan niyang construction workers ng Less Builders na isang sub-contractor ng Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Company. Ito ay sina Aron Ebuen, Bernard Efe, Noel Esman at Jojo Estella na nakalabas na ng Iba provincial hospital matapos na gamutin sa sakit na malaria.

Samanatalang kasalukuyan pang nasa nasabi ring ospital sina Juven Pindon at Jano Elardo. Ang namatay na si Mark Anthony at ang 6 pang naospital ay pawing mga residente ng barangay Bani sa Masinloc, Zambales.

Ayon kay Grace ay umuwi sa kanilang bahay ang kanyang asawang si Mark Anthony noong Mayo 4 at ng sumunod na araw ay nagsimula na itong makaramdam ng sakit ng tiyan, lagnat at matinding pagka-ginaw.

Kaya’t noong Mayo 6 ay dinala nila si Mark Anthony sa Candelaria District Hospital at doon nga ay nakonpirma na ang kanyang dugo ay positibo sa virus na p. falciparum na nagdudulot ng sakit na malaria kaya sya ay agad namang inilipat sa Iba provincial hospital. Subalit makalipas ng ilang araw ay namatay si Mark Anthony.

Nakatakdang magsagawa ng inspeksyon ang Task Force Hanjin sa sinasabing barracks ng mga construction workers ng Less Builders at iba pang sub-constractors na nasa labas ng Hanjin shipbuilding compound na sinasabing wala sa maayos na kalagayan na maaring dahilan upang kumalat ang mga lamok na may dalang malaria.

Makikipag-ugnayan din naman ang Task Force Hanjin sa Department of Health para sa mga agarang gawain para maiwasan ang pagkalat ng sakit na malaria sa mga manggagawa ng Hanjin at mga residente ng apektadong barangay ng Cawag sa Subic, Zambales. By Mon Lacbain - Task Force Hanjin

Malaria outbreak in Hanjin shipyard under control

The malaria outbreak that affected at least 321 workers and residents in and around a Korean shipbuilding facility in Subic, Zambales, last year is now under control, the chief of the Department of Health in Central Luzon said on Wednesday.

By Tonette Orejas - Philippine Daily Inquirer

The malaria outbreak that affected at least 321 workers and residents in and around a Korean shipbuilding facility in Subic, Zambales, last year is now under control, the chief of the Department of Health in Central Luzon said on Wednesday.

A DOH report said the Korean firm Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd., its subcontractors, and the local and provincial governments would have to take measures to prevent future epidemics because malaria has been found to be “endemic” in the area.

“The situation has been controlled. Per our surveillance, no latest cases have been reported. We are following up on the actions we have recommended in the report,” Dr. Rio Magpantay, DOH regional director, said in a phone interview.

Discovery in Manila

The DOH’s National Epidemiology Center looked into the situation after six of the seven patients at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila in May last year turned out to be construction workers of Hanjin, the report said.

Hanjin, the single biggest investor in the Philippines in 2005 through a $1.6-billion investment, began construction of its shipyard in late 2006.

The center’s investigation showed that “the barangay with the highest attack rate was Barangay Cawag where Hanjin’s construction site is situated.”

Of the 201 cases monitored from January to May last year, at least 183 came from Cawag, five in Naugsol, five in Mangan Vaca, two in Calapacuan and six in other villages. The number of cases rose to 321 in June 2007.

“Interview with the [rural health unit] staff revealed that most of the cases were construction workers from Hanjin,” the report said.

Jong Yu Pyeong, Hanjin general manager, said he was “not sure whether it can be called an outbreak or not.”

“I think it should be considered or called as ‘very, very limited’ cases. I never heard any patient admitted to the hospital with verified malaria infection for almost a year,” Jong said.

“We have been having regular seminars and [are] implementing measures to keep our employees off from any hazardous situations,” he said.

Subic Mayor Jeffrey Khonghun did not reply to an Inquirer call for a follow up.

The report’s part on environmental scanning showed that workers who lived outside the Hanjin facility were more vulnerable to malaria, a virus transmitted by mosquito bites.

“Those workers outside Hanjin area were not equipped with personal protective equipment. Their barracks were made from light materials like sacks and tarpaulin. These barracks were not provided with screen. Other workers that were not provided with temporary barracks had no choice but to sleep on the road [in] the construction site,” it added.

Those who lived within the company’s premises wore “personal protective equipment and most of their barracks were made of tent and steel container vans with screen on doors and windows.”

Deforestation

“The outbreak also coincides with the observed annual increases in (the number of) cases during the start of the rainy season. The disruption of the natural habitat of the vectors due to deforestation and construction also contributed to this increase in cases. There were very minimal (sic) animals seen in the area, which could be an alternative source of blood meals for the vector mosquito,” it said.

The “poor compliance of some contractors to do their responsibilities toward their workers” was another factor, the center said. It also noted a “lack of surveillance system” in the area.