Bringing preventive healthcare closer to

Bringing preventive healthcare closer to | Daily Tribune

Unlike one-time outreach activities, SM Foundation returns to communities year after year. Patients are referred to local health centers for continuous care, while succeeding medical missions allow volunteer doctors to monitor their progress and encourage healthier lifestyles.

For Barangay San Rafael resident Lolita, her laboratory test results showed improvement in her health.

Years ago, Lolita wanted to have her dizziness and strong heartbeat checked by a doctor but chose to save her P300 money for basic necessities instead of spending it to go to the government health center without assurance of getting medicines that she needed. Fortunately, SM Foundation was having a medical mission at the shopping mall.

Despite not feeling well, she made her way to the SM City San Pablo. Doctors found that Lolita had high blood sugar, high cholesterol and elevated uric acid levels after undergoing the free lab tests. She was given free maintenance medicines that she had taken since then.

She was grateful of getting something far more valuable than a month’s worth of maintenance medicines: peace of mind in knowing her state of health.

Preventive healthcare

Dr. Mercydina Adbona Caponpon, city health officer of San Pablo, emphasized the importance of preventive healthcare as it pre-empts worsening of a medical condition.

“It is important that we get preventive health services to avoid medical complications,” she said.

Detecting diseases before they progress allows for early treatment and rehabilitation to manage existing conditions. Prevention remains the first and most powerful line of defense because it gives people the chance to act before diseases become harder and more expensive to manage, according to Caponpon.

The doctor noted that hypertension and diabetes remain among the most common conditions seen in consultations, with many patients seeking medical attention only after their illnesses have already advanced.

For families facing financial challenges, free medical missions become more than a convenient service — they become an opportunity to detect diseases early, begin treatment sooner, and avoid complications that could change lives forever.

Annual medical mission

That philosophy has long guided SM Foundation’s healthcare initiatives.

“We aren’t just a medical mission that hands out medicine; we also diagnose,” Dr. Bless Bertos, resident physician of SM Foundation, said.

According to Bertos, the comprehensive services offered during medical missions often help identify health conditions that participants were previously unaware of.

“In my experience, many people come here solely to get vitamins. However, because we provide comprehensive services, they also get the opportunity to undergo screening. They often claim they aren’t taking any maintenance medication, but when we check their blood pressure, it turns out to be high. That allows us to catch the issue early and begin managing their condition,” she explained.

SM Foundation’s medical mission in SM City San Pablo was supported by the City Health Office, SPC Medical, Philippine Red Cross, Provincial Health Office, San Pablo Infinity 104 MJF Lions Club International, and Acebedo Optical, the medical mission delivered 1,521 free healthcare services.

Some people might think that the numbers represent access to healthcare but the mission means something much more personal for residents like Lolita.

She no longer has to wonder why she feels the way she does, worry about affording the answer, or wait until her illness turns severe. For Lolita, and for hundreds of residents like her, preventive care did not just catch what was wrong. It gave back what worry had taken: One check-up, one diagnosis, one certainty at a time.